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Photographic 

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D 
D 
D 
D 


D 
D 
D 
D 

D 


D 


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Additional  comments:/ 
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r~T|  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

r~~l  Showthrough/ 

I      I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I — I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
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ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
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etc.,  ont  6t6  film6es  d  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

y 

1 

1 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

>laire 
IS  details 
ques  du 
nt  modifier 
iciger  une 
ie  filmage 


The  copy  filmed  here  ha»  bean  r«produced  thanks 
to  the  ganarosity  of: 

University  of  British  Columbia  Library 


Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possible  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibillty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacificatlons. 


L'axamplaira  fiimt  fut  reproduit  grflce  A  la 
gAn6rosit6  da: 

University  of  British  Columbia  Library 


Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  At6  raproduites  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat6  da  I'axamplaire  filmi.  at  en 
conformity  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


d/ 
iu6es 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
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first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — ^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  filmis  en  commenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  Ie  second 
plat,  salon  Ie  cas.  Tous  les  autros  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmis  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie 
cas:  ie  symbole  — ^>  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  Ie 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


aire 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmte  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  Ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  il  est  film6  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  Ie  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


by  errata 
ned  to 

lent 

une  pelure, 

fapon  d 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


jr'-P'M  lliimpi' 


mmm-^<m*i'*'"^^^^'^w 


,„.  -.«^.« 


{V«»#ft 


REMARKS 


DURING  A 


JOURNEY  THROUGH  NORTH  AMERI 


IN  THE 

YEARS  1819,  1820,  and  1821, 
IN 

A  8BRXB8   or   LBTTB&S: 


■> 
z^-- 


.\i^ 

t-.*. 


WITH 

Contaiuing 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  SEVERAL  OF  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES, 

VND  THE 

PRINCIPAL  MCjSIONARY  STATIONS,  Sic 

ALSO, 
A  LETTER   TO  Jtf.  JEAJV  BAPTISTS  SAY, 

ON  THE 

COMPARATIVE  EXPENSE 
or 

FREE  AND  SLAVE  LABOUR. 


By  ADAM  HODGSON,  Esq.  of  Liverpool,  Eno. 


Collected,  arranged,  and  published  by 
SAMUEL  WHITING. 


NEW- YORK 

1823. 


%■ 


■}     \ 


{4 

I  -; 


«^«*4S 


Soutlitrn  Oistrtvt  vj  iSni-  t'urx,  u. 

BK  IT  RKMKMBERKI),  That  on  the  first  day  ol  Nuveiubei',  in  tlie  lorly-«;ij;iili 
year  of  the  liutepeiiilencn  of  thu  IJniteil  Stiiles  of  America,  Samuel  Whiting,  of  the 
said  l)i9trict,  hath  deposited  in  this  otKce  the  title  of  a  Book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims 
as  author  and  proprietor,  in  the  words  followiiij;.  to  wit : 

•'  Remarks  during  a  Jouriitiy  through  North  America,  in  the  years  1819,  1820,  and  1821. 
In  a  scries  of  letters  :   with  an  appendix  containin?;  an  acrou.nt  nf  several  of  the   Inilian 


I II   a  ^*UrK'S  Ul    IfTiici-^'      n  iLii   III  n}r)>ciitii  A     i.,«iiiaiuiii^     ni. ... .  .^. .,,      ,,,«.      .(...lu,, 

Iritips,  and  the  principle  missionary  .^laiions,  8ic.  also  a  letter  to  M.  Jean  Baptiste  Say,  on 
the  iiimparative  expense  of  free  and  slave  labour.     By   Adam  Hodg.son,  Esq.  of  Liver- 
pool, Kng.     Oorrectcd,  arranged,  and  puhli-lied  by  Simiiel  Whiting." 
,.   — r......:,..  >,.  .1,,.    t„i  ..r  #  „ ,  f  ifj,,  |i,|jiei]  ^,tates,  entitled. 


An  Act  for  the 


In  coiiforinity  to  the  Act  of  (.'ongrt'^.^  i.i  'm:  fuMcu  .iLaic-s,  imjihicii,  •■  ^ii  Acciorme 
eui'ouraiii'ineul  of  l/camiuj?.  by  securing  the  copies  of  Alaps,  Chart.s,  and  Books,  to  the  au- 
thors and  proprietors  of  such  copie?,  dnri'i,';.  the  time  therein  menlioiiad."  And  also 
to  an  Act,  entitled  "  an  Act,  supplemt^ntaiy  to  an  Act,  entitled  an  Act  for  the  encourage- 
meril   of  I,earniuv;,  by  securing  the  copies  of  Map-J,  t'lwil".  ami  Books,  to  the au'hnr.i  and 


proprietors  of  such  copies,  ilurinr;  thi 
iml'il'   lliereoffo  lUc.nil';  of  de'iguin 


- —I .-  —  -...        And  also 

an  Act,  supplemt^ntaiy  to  an  Act,  entitled  an  Act  for  the  encourage- 

'   ~  ••  -        •        ■•  'laps,  t'lmil".  ami  Books,  to  tliftau* 

tiULOs  (herein   nieiitinncd,  and  extendiii;:  the  be- 
le'iuuin^.  enpraving,  and  etching  hi.-.torical  and  other  prints  " 

JAMtjlJII.L, 
Chrk  nf  lUr  Southern  UiHrirt  nf  p;oi-Y,irk: 


•1.  HiifMOU'p,  pi-iiiier,  l'.'  .'ohii  iH»(;' 


w^m:.'-'Ww^-'>^-;f^'r 


«  t 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


In  presenting  to  the  American  public  the  pre- 
sent vohime,  the  Editor  flatters  himself  that  he  is 
subserving  the  cause  of  truth,  benevolence,  and 
piety. 

The  Letters  of  Mr.  Hodgson,  written  during  his 
extensive  journeyings  through  this  country,  were 
originally  published  in  the  [London]  Christian  Ob- 
server.  Emanating  from  a  source  so  respectable, 
and  communicated  through  a  medium  of  such  high 
authority,  the  publication  of  these  Letters  may  be 
considered  as  the  commencement  of  a  new  and  bet- 
ter era,  in  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  towards  the  United  States — feelings, 
which  every  good  man  will  rejoice  to  find  are  tri- 
umphing over  the  old  and  inveterate  prejudices  of 
other  days. 

To  these  Letters,  the  Editor  has  added  an  Ap- 
pendix, containing  two  other  interesting  documents 
from  the  same  hand.  The  first  is  an  account  of 
the  American  Indians^  or  rather  of  those  Tribes 
which  the  author  visited  in  his  tour,  viz.  the  Creeks, 
the  Choctaws,  the  Chickasaws,  and  the  Cherokees; 
and  an  interesting  view  of  the  Missionary  esta- 
blishments at  Elliot  and  Brainerd :  this  part  of  Mr. 


■*4-     '.<    * 


,6^- 


fe^- 


.  .v"*.;.'*". 


I 


V^ 


%     • 


IV 


ADVERTISKMEN  T. 


Hodgson's  book  will  be  read  with  high  gratification 
by  tlie  friends  of  Missions  to  the  Heathen  ;  and  it  is 
hoped  also,  with  profit^  by  those  who  have  been 
either  indifferent  or  hostile  to  these  benevolent  ef- 
forts to  civilize,  and  to  christianize,  the  poor  be- 
nighted and  degraded  children  of  the  forest. 

The  other  document  is  "  a  Letter  to  M.  Jean 
Baptiste  Say,  on  the  comparative  expense  of  Free 
and  Slave  labour." 

This  letter  involves  a  question  of  vast  impor- 
tance to  the  cause  of  Africa,  and  the  emancipation 
of  the  millions  of  her  wretched  and  injured  sons. 

The  facts  and  reasonings  adduced  by  Mr.  Hodg- 
son, must  have  a  powerful  tendency  to  correct  iome 
of  those  fake  premises  and  worse  deductions  which  con- 
stitute the  strong  hold  of  JVcgro  Slavery,,  and  which 
do  still  oppose  the  principal  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  universal  emancipation. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  presumed  that  the  present  vo- 
lume will  be  received  with  peculiar  favour  by  the 
American  public.  The  writer  is  a  partner  of  a 
mercantile  house  of  extensive  business,  liberal 
views,  and  great  respectability,  in  Liverpool.  And 
those  who  shall  read  what  he  has  here  written,  will 
not  require  to  be  told  that  he  is  a  scholar,  a  philan- 
thropist, and  a  Christian, 


I 


New-York,  Nov.  1,  1823. 


I 


COi\TExM> 


Ll.llfcR  I.  i'iiiidclL'lpliia.  Emigration,  t(.  the  Vinwr  Mates,  »'>  (..iiiud.i— 
difticulties  and  expenses — govLiiiineiital  ;;raiiis  ol  land — Ices  of  oflir.u— 
hardships  of  new  settlers,  tiieii  i;raflu;il  iiniaoveimiu,  kr.  ]ui<^e  't 

LettbII  2.  Philadelphia.  Canada,  its  iinpoitnncc,  soil,  si.uiuMy, 'liniaic-- 
comparison  with  Southern  imbils — state  of  IVew-Yoik.  1" 

Letter  3.  Norfolk.  Emigiation— Uirkbeck's  si:ttlenn;iit — ctroncous  esti 
mates — agriculture — domestic  manufactures.  21 

Letter  4,  Norfolk.  Birkbetk's  seltlcmont — error  ciir>r(  ted — nianuf.iL- 
tures — Ohio,  its  advantages,  produce,  and  value  ol  land^ — CiiiUicoiin;, 
boarding-school — depreciation  of  real  estate— provisions — labour — valui- 
of  slaves  at  Norfolk.  ^^ 

Letter  5.     New-York.     .FourneytVom  naltiinorr — V'ork — l.icc  of  the  tonn- 
^  try — buildings — Germans — stage-driver — cheapnr-s  of  hiboor  — C'rrck  Val 

Joy — value  of  estates Sustjuehaiuiali — l,ani:a,tur — Liiil.heck — Pliiladi'l- 

phia.  »<» 

Letter  6.  New.York.  nrliy,ion  and  morals  of  the  rnilcrl  Stairs — The- 
ological Institution  at  Andover — Hartford — Ncu-Haven — Vale  Collet;e — 
Dr.  Morse — Dr.  Worcester — Bisiiop  Wliito — Siiuday-uchiuil  for  iiliuks  at 
Baltimore — preaching  in  capitol  at  Wasliin;;ton — tomb  of  (Jen.  VVashinjj- 
ton — Judge  Washii.gton — (Jolonizatiou  Society — f"hri  tian  slavrs-Misn 
Smelt — negro  funeral  and  sermon — Clarke's  Bible — Divine  service  in  tlic 
woods — Missionary  settlement  at  Brainerd  and  Valoo  L!u.-lia--\h.  Kings- 
bury— midnight  scene — a  comparison — style  of  preaching — iiitlucnce  of  a 
missionary  spirit — New-Orleans — a  contrast.  1" 


-Hos- 

Kev. 

tjti 


Letter  8.  Salem.  Unitarianism — Dr.  Morse's  pamiiidi;l—Chap(ds- 
ton — reasons  of  the  e.xtension  of  Uiiitariaiiisiii — opposing;  inlliiiiH  «•- 
Mr.  Dwight — Dr.  .Tarvis — Cambridge  Cullege,  \:c. 

Letter  9.  Salem.  Morals  tad  mamicvs  of  thr  l.nitHiJ  Sntr,  divnsiiy 
of — intemperonce — female  dcrorinn — crimes,  coiiHastf'd — Cjusiom-hoiise- 
bribes,  unknown — smuggling — insolvent  laws — lo!ti,ri''.---/,amniMi;j,  ^lio;,-  — 
profanity — beauties  of  tiie  iVIississipni  scenery,  cnntrafltd  wiili  its  moral 
pollutions— a  A'ew-Eiiglaiid  town.  '•''^ 

Letter  10.  Philadelphia.  American  rluiracter— lewdutionaiy  iifiui'.--- 
political  characters — ladico — lower  classes — roldnfss  ol'  nuuiii'M.s — variety 
— inquisitivencss — spitting — profusion  at  rjieals-  IcMidnecs  ami  iio^piuility 
— false  ideas  of  American  character — po'.v(:r  of  (Jhrictian  syn.pathy  — Ca- 
nada and  United  States,  a  cuirtrust.  )^l 

Letter  11.     Charleston.     Missouri  i|Uf:lioii Alexandria — Ocfi'jua:. — 

Fredericksburgh — liichnioiid — inns — land!or(li--lo'^-h'  :i.ie;   --.lavi-  |  uiin!:!  - 
tiau — renectiuns — the    Capitol — Peti':-i;iii};h — dcjti/plioii    of    a    .louiliein 
inn— tobacco — Virginia   estates — l^'leivh — I''ay'.'t!'HddR — ('ha r If. tun  ■• 
mail  coacli — misrepresentations  of  lajgli.-h  tiavellcrs — faro  of  tiio  Loiui'ry 
— clearing  land — turpentine — larpi'a — view  of  Chaiirfton.  9*! 

Letter  12.     Charleston.     Rice  plantation  of  '-pu. ,  iir<ro  >  aMn-:-* 

iiubits  and  treatment  of  slaves — viewi — aOLiuty — races — .aiiunior  e.sci.'!- 


uns — yellow  fever — sale  of  slaves — reHectious — IIumiKldt's  T; 


tract. 


;Cls 


II 


l.f'l  rKK  }'t.     Mobile.    CliarlestPn--Sabl3th^-^iavr .,  tiujr  lu;  loias — ;-^i- 
K.ii.i_-;ifi,;...iprc — murdfrar  yf  D/-  r«uii':-iv — .Mri,  li;i.>iisi'v — Cci.  Lumvus 


-i 


■sUff 


VI 


ONTKNT^. 


r 

i 


li 


-Savatiniili — rue — donations — Augusta,  face  of  the  ((uiiiiry — liotel—c  (un- 
paiiy — cotton  phtntalion — lefliictioti.s — journey   to   JVew-Oileans — country 

inn — schools — hooks  -Ian; — Ogpchcc  river — Sabbatli negro  worshii)— 

Millffl(»i'villc' gn'at  fiei.hi'1 piiwiniMb employment  of  blaves— Fort 

Hawkins — OukinuJui.'c — ('iirek  Iiolians — ;;anii,s  of  slaves — Flint  rivnr — Te- 
cunistli,  liis  iiidntiiie  over  thf  Creek  Indians  in  the  late  uar — refluclions — 
Lime  Creek — erninranls. — crossing  rivpis — Point  Comfort — had  roads —  Fort 
Dale — library — Indian  nniriiers — Mnnlri  (^reek — road  to  Blakoly — public 
>chools — solitary  liarren — hurricane — swamps— nigiit  scenes — fire  iliiis — 
Blakely— Mobile.  lf}» 

l.BTTKR  14.  JVntrlirr.  Blakely  nnd  Mcihile — prospertivc  wealth  of  Ala- 
bama— men  and  manners — treatment  of  siaviv^ — yellnw  fever — passanc  to 
New-Orleans — bay  of  St.  Louis — the  Mississippi — population  and  manners 
of  New-Orleans — l)()trdini;-h(nise — pnnishnu.nl  of  slavi's — improviiifi,  -tate 
of  inoralF — passage  to  Natchrz — views — moiitlis  of  the  Mississippi — alli- 
gators— plantejs  and  sawyers — anivalat  Natchez — hoarding-huuse — fo- 
rest trees — state  of  society — shooting  slaves — rellections.  l.'i 

Letter  15.  Natchez.  Slave  trade — reflections — riifijcultiesof  eniancipn- 
tion — increase  of  slaves — preaching  to  slave.'-— inslructifui  of  slaves  pr<j- 
hibited — African  schools  at  the  noith — expense  of  raising  cotton,  corni  to- 
bacco, rice,  sugar,  indigo — East  India  cotton.  1*8 

Letter  16.  Hicfmiond,  \a.  Jouiney  froni  Mifsissippi — Chickasaw  Na- 
tion—  Big  Sp  ins difficollies  ol  pntertainmenl rapid  impiovenient? 

Tennessee  river — lall  of  the  pi  ice  of  lands — Athens — Cand)iid!;e — Huiit.''- 
ville — Sal)l)ath — Cnmbeiland    iiionntain — Cheiokee    Nation — settlers  and 

incidents — Bra i nerd — tavern  library — Kingston — I^abbath preaching  in 

the  woods — Knoxsville — Kay's  tavern.  191 

Letter  1'.  Richmond.  Kast  Tennessee — contemplated  canals — Allegha- 
ny mountains — Kanawa    river — tilled    innkeepers — interesting  scenery 

Knanoke — Salem — incidents  of  a  night — valley  of  the  Shenandoah — James 
river — natural  bridge — features  of  slavery — V\'aynesb<nough — Blue  Ridge 
— Rock-Fish-Gap — Chailotie's  Ville — anecdote  of  the  revolution — Monti- 
cello — Mr.  Jefferson — arrival  at  Richmond.  204 

Letter  to  th«  Editor  of  the  Christian  Observer.  Concluding  packet  of  let- 
ters from  America — motives  to  their  publication — evils  of  slavery — Sunday 
school  for  slaves,  and  opposition  of  whites,  in  Maryland — reply  of  the  De- 
laware Indians  to  missionaries — cutting  reproof.  21,' 

I<ETTER  18.  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  Portland — bar-room  politicians — reflec- 
tions on  legislation  and  goveinment — incompetency  of  legislators — safety 
of  experimentising— popular  opinion,  its  evils — miiidtn  speeches  in  Congress 
intelligence  and  skill  of  that  body — a  contrast.  220 

F-ETTER  19.  Hartlord,  Conn.  Portland — boarding-house— company — Sab- 
bath— public  worship — scenery — Saco — snow-diilts — Portsmouth — winter 
views — harbour — Supreme  Court — Judge's  charge — general  appearance — 
Newburyport — good  inn — church-yard — Salem — rocky  region — Ipswich  - 
Marblehead — general  characteristics  of  the  Americans — thanksgiving  and 
Christmas — trade  and  wealth  of  Salem — Boston — Northampton — Hartford 
— Valley  of  Connecticut  river — autumnal  scenery — transparency  of  the 
atmosphere — extremes  of  temperature.  228 

Letter  20.  Hartford.  Cornwall — Missionary  school — burying  ground — 
Obookiah — mnrning  worship — state  of  the  school — improvement  of  pupils 
Housatnnic  river — reflections — Sharon — schools — colleges — Webster's  Ora- 
tion, extracts — observance  of  the  Sabbath — Pleasant  Valley — a  caucus — 
Poughkeepsie — the  Hudson — Catskill  mountains — fine  scenery — last  Sab- 
baili  in  America — passage  through  the  Highlands — majiiiificent  scenery — 
N'w-York — review — closing  reflections.  '2\'i 


I 


CONi'KMi:. 


Vll 


APPENDIX. 
I  ROM  THE  (F.ONDON)  MISSIONARY  KF.GISTKR. 

iNTRoniTCTioN      Motiticello — Mr.  Jefferson — a  contrast ignorance  and 

prejudice  respncting  Aineiica.  360 

'iREEK  Indians.  Habits  and  appearance — a  ni^ht  in  tlic  woods — travel- 
lers— Indian  town — councii-housH — ClialiiliDiicliy  river — Oiicliie  biidge-- 
Bin  VVanior — Mackintu^ii — ciiinis   and  pMnislinients — ercLMi-ioin  (hiii<« — 

improvements     in     civilisation slaves — trtatnicni    of    fcinalef Lini'i 

Creek.  2G3 

Choctaw  Indianh.  Murder  for  witchcraft — travellers — Indian  mnurnin!:'. 
and  feastings — ancient  customs — law  of  retaliaiiou — visit  to  KUiol — In- 
dian   guides — missionaries — the     school — ctiier — adduss employ  nimt — 

fcupper — worship — iniproveuient  of  the  childieii — Kev  Mr.  Kin^sluiry — oli- 
jects  of  the  missionariesi — liberal  contributions  of  the  Choctaws — labou;'--, 
trials,  and  success  of  the  missionaries — reflections — departure — h.iM-liiPcd 
Choctaw — ancient  customs — religious  belief — attachment  to  the  English — 
liunters — desolate  ride — wolves.  269 

Chickasaw  Inuians.  Wealth  and  kindne."!s  of  the  host — ball  play — rich 
dress — burial  of  the  dead— tlisinal  swamp — Bear  Creek — extensive  forest- 
— reflections.  282 

Cherokee  Indians.  Rapid  settlement  of  Alabama — roman'ic  scenery— 
Brainerd — Indian  childien — Osat;e  tiipfives — laboins  o(  the  children — do- 
cility— Sabbath  worship — cheeiiug  thought — Teiuiessee  river.  286 


Reflections  on  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  Indians. 


28S 


Letter  to  M.  Jean  Baptiste  Saj',  on  the  comparative  expense  of  free  and 
slave  labour.  291 


Afpendix  to  ditto. 


321 


Extracts.     Burke — Franklin — Bratlie — Stoeli' — Dickson — Rotliam — Sier- 
ra Leone — Granville    Sha  |) — Missioiiaiy    Kegiste  — Sir  (icu.  Colliii  —  H. 

Turner — Edward   Fitzgeiald — Kev.  II.   Duiiiig — 'Dr.    Morse Ameticnn 

Colonization  Society, 


ERRATA. 

The  following  errors  occurred  in  the  English  copy,  and   were  iint  notiTtl 
till  the  work  was  printed  : 

Page  96,  2d  line,  for  Charleston,  M'.  C.  read  S.C. 
196,  19th  line,  for  cents  read  dollart. 
290,  23d  line,  fm  obstrve  read  suhsenf.. 
A  few  other  slight  typographical  errors  have  been  detected,  but  tliey  do  not 
•iffect  the  sense. 


i 


■-^ 


lo  rni.  KDiiou  OF  iin.  cnuisriA.x  obslrvlk 


1    ' 


!>  tlifi  co\irso  o(  (Jip  y<ar  lliib.  and  llu-  spring  of  1821,  I  n»adc  un 
t'Xtunsive  tour  through  Upper  anil  I^ower  ('anada  and  the  United  States 
ol'  Ainpri<:a,  traversing  I  he  lattei  through  Maine  and  Louisiana, 
through  Alabama,  and  back  again  through  the  States  of  Mississippi  and 
Tennessee. 

Altliough  I  had  no  intention  of  remaining  in  the  country,  the  subject 
i>i  emigration  had  become  so  interesting  hefore  I  left  England,  that  it 
was  natural  that  Ifi  a  journey  of  nearly  8000  miles  in  the  New  World, 
;ihout  I  BOO  o(  whicli  I  performed  on  horseback,  that  subject  should  en- 
U'age  much  of  my  attention. 

1  was  by  no  means  qualified,  either  by  previous  habits  or  intbrmation, 
to  avail  myself  fully  of  the  valuable  opportunities  of  observation  which 
I  enjoyed ;  but  I  made  a  few  general  remarks  on  the  subject,  in  my 
«;orrespondence  with  my  brother ;  and  having  found,  on  my  arrival  a( 
home,  that  he  had  preserved  my  letters,  it  has  occuired  to  me,  that,  su- 
perficial as  my  knowledge  was  on  many  parts  of  the  subject,  I  might 
possibly  add  something  to  the  general  stock  of  information  on  a  question 
.so  peculiarly  interesting  at  a  time  in  which  so  many  persons  have  beeu 
under  the  painful  necessity  of  deciding  on  the  eligibility  of  expatriating 
rliemsclves,  in  order  to  find  in  the  new  world  a  freedom  from  those  cares 
under  which  they  were  sinking  in  the  old. 

If  on  perusing  the  letters  I  send  you— which  are  copied,  I  believe, 
without  any  alteration,  except  where  there  are  personal  allusions — it 
should  be  compatible  with  your  plans  to  insert  them  in  the  Christian 
Observer,  they  are  quite  at  your  service. 

At  a  future  time  I  may,  perhaps,  trouble  you  with  some  remarks  ou 
the  religion  and  morals  of  the  United  States,  if  I  persude  myself  tliey 
will  be  of  any  interest. 

Although  I  most  decidedly  prefer  my  own  country,  I  feel  that  very 
great  injustice  has  been  done  to  America  by  most  of  our  travellers  and 
journalists ;  and  I  was  gratified  to  perceive,  that  the  Christian  Observer, 
in  the  true  spirit  which  becomes  its  character,  was  the  first  to  endeavour 
to  establish  a  more  correct,  as  well  as  a  more  candid  and  liberal 
appreciation  of  that  interesting  and  powerful,  though  in  some  respect-j 
Aivnl  nation. 

\DA^I  HODCwSOV 


\V 


wmM'-i'^^'^' 


r#^. 


*i/f  A^i^  ^^^ 


REMARKS,  &t. 


LETTER  I. 

Philadelphia,  JVov.  C,  1820. 

Neither  am  I  able  to  write  to  you  as  Cully 

as  I  could  desire  on  the  subject  of  emigration  to 
the  United  Slates^  upon  which  you  say  you  should 
wish  to  hear  what  occurs  to  me.  On  this  difficult 
and  interesting  topic,  I  will  enter  more  particular- 
ly shortly ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  will  send  you 
the  result  of  my  observations  on  the  inducements 
which  Canada  appeared  to  me  to  offer  to  English 
labourers  and  other  persons  of  little  or  no  proper- 
ty. Those  observations  were  necessarily  both  ra- 
pid and  superficial ;  and  my  information  is  propor- 
tionably  scanty,  although  I  endeavoured  to  seize 
every  opportunity  of  obtaining  intelligence. 

The  lands  which  the  Government  is  at  present 
distributing  in  Upper  Canada  lie  parallel  to  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lakes,  and  constitute  a 
range  of  townships  in  the  rear  of  those  already 
granted.  They  are  said  to  be  no  where  above  ten 
or  fifteen  miles  distant  from  the  old  settlements. 
Land  offices  are  established  in  ten  different  dis- 
tricts, in  order  to  save  the  emigrants  the  trouble 
of  going  up  to  York  ;  but  their  power  is  restricted 
to  grants  of  a  hundred  acres.    When  an  emigrant 


.Ju 


<^[|^jrTm^^3^1^1ie  townalR)  in  \^^icn  ne  wishes  to  s^ 
SS^^WIM^tfrWwPffcCTPwtth  the  necessary  f'ormali- 


Ijl^lpt^lftopation-ticket  for  a  par- 
icfeR^^^a 


a  condition  that  he  is 
not  to  dispose  of  them  for  three  years.  The  title 
is  not  given  till  he  has  performed  his  settling  du- 
ties ;  which  are,  to  clear  five  acres  in  each  hun- 
dred, and  the  half  of  the  road  in  front.  Now  these 
certainly  appear  to  be  very  easy  conditions  on 
which  to  obtain  the  fee-simple  of  a  hundred  acres: 
and  the  proposal  to  emigrate  must  therefore  be  a 
tempting  one  to  a  starving  labourer  or  mechanic. 
The  real  ind'icements,  however,  are  so  much 
less  than  the  apparent  ones,  that  although  many 
wouKl  wisely  emigrate  even  with  a  full  conviction 
of  the  difficulties  they  had  to  encounter,  I  believe 
that,  at  present,  there  is  not  one  emigrant  in  five 
hundred  who  does  not  feel  bitterly  disappointed  on 
his  arrival  at  Quebec,  .'nstead  of  finding  himself, 
as  his  confused  ideas  of  geography  had  led  him  to 
expect,  on  the  very  borders  of  his  little  estate,  he 
learns  with  astonishment  that  he  is  still  five  hun- 
dred miles  from  his  transatlantic  acres;  and,  if  he 
h;is  no  money  in  his  pocket,  he  may  probably  have 
to  encounter,  in  reaching  them,  more  severe  dis- 
tress than  he  ever  felt  at  home.  There  is  indeed 
much  benevolent  feeling  towards  emigrants  both 
at  Quebec  and  Montreal ;  and  societies  have  been 
formed  in  each  of  these  places,  to  afford  them  in- 
formation and  relief;  but  the  inhabitants  are  be- 
ginning to  complain  that  the  requisitions  for  this 
purpose  are  becoming  more  burdensome  than  even 
the  English  poor-rates.    The  steam-boat  compa- 


«  / 


/         ^  %     «  • 


11 


nios  are  also  liboral ;  (indeed  almost  every  man  oi 
property  feels  a  personal  inter'est  in  the  e'nOTtir-  ^ 
ai;ement  of  emigration  ;)  hut  an  emigrant  must  be 
unusually  forturmte  who  reaches  the  Land  Office 
in  Upper  Canada,  without  expending  at  least  5/. 
after  landing  at  Quebec.  The  emigrants  who  ac- 
companied us  in  the  steam-boat  in  which  I  ascend- 
ed the  St.  Lawrence,  were  some  of  those  lately 
sent  out  free  of  expense  by  our  GovcrruTient;  but 
there  was  or  e,  a  smart  shoe-maker,  not  of  that 
number,  wh«)  had  been  detained  some  weeks  at 
Quebec  earning  money  to  carry  him  up  the  river. 

When  thp  emigrant  arrives  at  the  Land  Office 
of  the  district  where  he  proposes  to  settle,  deter- 
mined perhaps  in  his  choice  by  the  hope  that  his 
lot  will  place  him  in  the  vicinity  of  an  old  acquaint- 
ance, he  may  probably  have  to  wait  some  weeks 
before  the  next  distribution  takes  place;  during 
which  he  must  be  supporting  himself  at  an  expense 
increased  by  his  ignorance  of  the  manners  of  the 
country.  He  then  learns,  perhaps  for  the  first 
time,  that  there  are  certain  fees  to  be  paid  at  the 
different  offices  through  which  his  papers  must 
pass.  I  have  a  list  of  these  before  me,  in  which 
they  are  stated  to  be, 

For  100  Acres         -        -        -         £  5  14  1 
200    do.  -         -         .  16  17  6 

300    do.  .         -         .  39   19  9 

1000    do.  -         -         -  78   10  2 

1  was  however  informed,   by  several    persons 

from  York  with  whom  I  crossed   Lake  Ontario, 

one  of  whom  said  he  was  in  the  habit  of  transact- 

inff  this  business  fur  the  eniiirrat)1s.  llmt.  for  a  hiin- 


\  f 


12 


dred  acres,  the  fees  were  13/.  \0s.  This  1  men- 
i  tiaflfed  to  the  Sheriff  and  several  of  the  principal 
merchants  at  Montreal,  who  did  not  dispute  it ; 
•one  of  them  observing  only  that  he  believed  there 
had  been  cases  in  which  grants  of  50  acres  were 
made  without  fees.*  It  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  where  land  is  said  to  be  gratuitously  bestow- 
ed, awy  fees  should  be  deemed  necessary;  as  the 
boon,  when  accompanied  with  this  demand,  is 
calculated  to  produce  discontent  rather  than  gra- 
titude, especially  where  the  emigrant  finds  that 
his  fees  amount  to  one  half  the  sum  at  which  he 
could  select  and  buy  the  same  quantity  of  land, 
without  the  delay  attending  the  grant,  and  un- 
shackled with  any  conditions  or  clearing  dues. 
The  surveyors  receive  their  compensation  in  land, 
and  generally  secure  the  most  valuable  portions. 
When  I  was  in  Canada,  they  would  sell  their  best 
lots  at  one  dollar  per  acre  ;  while  13/.  \0s.  the  fees 
on  a  hundred  acres,  amount  to  more  than  half  a 
dollar  per  acre.  I  never  met  with  any  one  person 
among  all  those  with  whom  I  conversed  on  the 
subject,  who  did  not  agree  that,  if  a  settler  had 
but  a  very  little  money,  it  would  be  much  more  to 
his  advantage  to  buy  land,  than  to  receive  it  from 
government. 

Supposing  the  emigrant  to  be  able  to  pay  his 
fees,  he  may  still  have  the  misfortune  to  find  that 
his  allotment  (for  he  can  only  choose  his  township, 
not  his  estate,)  is  not  worth  cultivating.  In  this 
case  he  has  to  pay  two  respectable  persons  for 


■^ 


•''  I  believe  grants  ofSO  acres  are  generally,  or  alway?,  to  be  obtain- 
ed without  fees. 


IJ 


1- 

li 

i 

e 
e 
d 

e 

3 


I 


■it 


surveying  and  certifyihg  it  to  be  irreclaimable  f 
and  he  is  then  permitted  to  take  his  chance  in  the 
next  distribution.  Generally  speaking,  I  believe 
he  may  expect  to  find  himself  in  his  own  forest 
from  three  to  six  weeks  after  his  arrival  at  the 
Land  Office  in  Upper  Canada. 

Even  then  his  situation  is  most  dreary,  especial- 
ly if  he  has  no  neighbour  within  a  reasonable  dis- 
tance, and  has  to  purchase  and  carry  his  provi- 
sions from  a  remote  settlement.  But  if  he  has  no 
money  to  procure  food  ;  if  he  has  a  wife  and  family 
to  provide  for,  without  the  forlorn  hope  of  parish 
assistance;  if  he  is  a  weaver  or  a  spinner,  accus- 
tomed to  warm  rooms,  and  to  employments  little 
calculated  to  impart  either  the  mental  or  physical 
qualifications  essential  to  his  very  support;  if  he 
is,  in  fact,  of  a  class  to  which  a  large  proportion  of 
the  poor  emigrants  from  Great  Britain  belong,  i 
can  hardly  conceive  any  thing  more  distressing 
than  his  sensations,  when,  arriving  on  his  new  es- 
tate, with  an  axe  in  his  hand  and  all  his  worldly 
goods  in  his  wallet,  he  finds  himself  in  the  midst 
of  a  thick  forest,  whose  lofty  trees  are  to  be  dis- 
placed by  a  labour  almost  Herculean,  before  he 
can  erect  the  most  humble  shelter,  or  cultivate  the 
smallest  patch.  And  if  at  such  a  time  he  has  fur- 
ther to  anticipate  the  rigours  of  a  long  Canadian 
winter,  his  situation  must  be  deplorable  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

Under  such  circumstances,  which  I  should  ima- 
gine are  the  ordinary  circumstances  o( the  poorc.sl 
emigrants  to  Canada,  I  can  conceive  of  no  resource, 
nor  could  I  hear  of  any.  except  that  of  hiring  them- 


14 


Selves  to  some  older  settler,  in  the  hope  of  saving 
a  trifle  in  order  to  be  able,  in  the  course  of  time, 
to  pay  for  clearing  an  acre  or  two  of  their  forest 
farm,  or  to  buy  provisions  while  they  attempt  a 
task  for  which  they  are  little  qualified.  Some- 
times a  few  will  join,  and  one  half  hire  themselves 
out  to  obtain  provisions  for  the  other  half  while 
felling  the  trees.  If  they  surmount  the  difficulties 
of  the  first  year,  they  may  expect  at  its  termination 
to  be  in  possession  of  an  adequate  supply  of  food 
for  their  families ;  and  with  the  prospect,  if  they 
are  industrious,  of  bring  independent  and  progres- 
sively prosperous  during  the  remainder  of  their 
lives. 

Those,  however,  who  have  money  enough  to 
provide  for  tlieir  immediate  wants,  and  to  pay  the 
expense  of  clearing  a  moderate  proportion  of  their 
land,  (possessing  100/.  to  200/.  or  .500/.  for  instance,) 
may,  in  a  single  year,  be  very  comfortably  settled 
in  a  decent  log-iiouse  with  out-buildings,  and  with 
every  prospect  of  a  liberal  supply  of  all  the  sub- 
stantial comforts  of  a  farm.  Every  year  would 
add  hirgely  to  their  abundance,  and  to  their  facili- 
ties for  improving  and  extending  their  estate;  but 
they  would  accumulate  money  but  slowly,  unless 
they  had,  as  they  probably  would  have,  an  occa- 
sional foreign  market  for  their  grain  besides  the 
West  Indies.     They  may  also  derive  some  little 

profit  from  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  which  Mr.  G 

of  Montreal  told  me  he  received  on  consignment 
from  Ohio ;  a  distance  of  800  miles,  by  way  of 
Lake  Erie  and  Ontario.  The  situation  of  the  Up- 
per Canadas  ia  further  said  to  be  favourable  to 


15 


the  (3uUure  of"  hemp,  notwithstaiifling  the  failure 
hitherto  of  the  most  promising  experiments. 

Grain,  however,  will  be  their  staple  commodity  ; 
and  although  the  large  body  of  settlers  who  arrive 
annually  may  afford  a  temporary  market,  they  will 
soon  produce  far  more  than  they  consume,  and 
under  ordinary  circumstances  will  depress  the 
prices  very  nearly  to  a  level  with  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction. Indeed  I  heard  the  farmers  of  Lower 
Canada  complaining  that  their  markets  were  glut- 
ted with  the  produce  of  the  Upper  Province. 

For  several  years  the  average  price  of  wheat  in 
Upper  Canada  has  been  about  five  shillings  for 
sixty  pounds;  but  on  the  American  shores  of  the 
Lake  we  found  it  at  twenty-five  to  thirty-three 
cents;  and  although  its  introduction  into  Upper 
Canada  is  either  prohibited  or  shackled  with  hea- 
vy duties,  it  of  course  will  find  its  way  into  the 
province  whenever  the  price  there  is  materially 
higher  than  at  home.  In  the  Lower  Province, 
when  our  ports  are  open,  they  consume  American 
grain,  and  export  their  own ;  as  it  is  necessary 
their  shipments  should  be  accompanied  with  cer- 
tificates of  Canadian  origin. 

Any  interruption  to  the  timber  trade  would  di- 
minish the  market  for  grain ;  since  a  very  large 
body  of  consumers  are  found  in  the  raftsmen,  who 
collect  and  convey  the  timber  from  the  lakes  and 
rivers  to  Quebec,  and  in  the  crews  of  five  or  six 
hundred  vessels  who  replenish  some  part  at  least 
of  their  stores  at  that  port.  The  raftsmen  are  in 
a  great  measure  the  link  of  communication  be- 
tween the  Montreal  and  Quebec  merchants  on  the 


16 


one  hand,  and  the  emigrants  and  back-woods^men 
on  the  other — the  channels  through  which  British 
manufactures  flow  into  the  interior,  and  country 
produce  to  the  coast. 

Although,  therefore,  I  have  a  list  before  me  of 
fourteen  heads  of  families,  with  eighty-six  children, 
who,  beginLiing  the  world  with  nothing  but  their 
industry,  have,  in  the  course  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  in  Canada,  accumulated  an  aggregate 
amount  of  property  of  35,500/.,  about  2500/.  each, 
I  conceive  that  a  farmer  removing  thither  from 
Europe,  for  the  purpose  of  making  money  rapidly, 
would  certainly  be  disappointed.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  his  object  were  to  prevent  the  diminution 
of  what  little  property  he  actually  possessed,  and 
to  secure  independence  for  himself  and  a  career 
of  prosperous  industry  for  his  children — to  pur- 
chase, by  the  sacrifice  of  the  many  comforts  of  an 
old  settled  country,  the  advantages  of  a  less  crowd- 
ed population  and  a  cheaper  soil — to  withdraw 
from  the  burdens,  without  retiring  from  the  pro- 
tection, of  his  native  land,  and  without  assuming 
those  obligations  to  another  government  which 
might  make  him  the  enemy  of  his  own — to  settle* 
though  in  a  distant  colony,  among  his  countrymen 
and  fellow-subjects,  within  means  of  instruction 
for  his  children  and  opportunies  of  public  worship 
for  his  family ; — if  these  were  his  objects,  and  he 
could  bring  with  him  health,  temperance,  and  in- 
dustry, and  one  or  two  hundred  pounds,  I  am  per- 
suaded that  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  he 
would  be  remunerated  a  thousand  fold  for  his  pri- 
vations. 


17 


M 


And,  notwithstanding  all  I  have  said  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  early  settler  without  money,  a  young 
man  of  industry,  enterprise,  and  agricuiiural  ha- 
bits, without  family,  or  with  the  means  of  leaving 
them  for  a  year  or  two  with  his  own  or  his  wife's 
friends,  who  should  come  out  to  Canada,  and  hire 
his  services  till  he  could  have  a  log-house  built, 
and  two  or  three  acres  cleared,  would  probably 
find  himself  in  the  prime  of  life  an  independent 
farmer  on  his  own  estate,  with  abundance  of  the 
necessaries  of  existence,  and  with  prospects  bright- 
ening as  he  advanced  towards  the  evening  of  his 
days.  But  the  sickly,  the  shiftless,  the  idle,  the 
timid,  and  the  destitute,  with  large  families,  will, 
I  have  no  doubt,  sutler  far  less  in  living  from  hand 
to  mouth  in  England,  than  in  encountering  the 
difficulties  of  emigration  to  Canada. 

The  soil  of  Upper  Canada  is  generally  extreme- 
ly good,  and  the  climate,  with  the  exception  of  a 
long  and  severe  winter,  unobjectionable.  To  per- 
sons on  the  spot,  possessed  of  accurate  local  infor- 
mation, opportunies,  I  have  no  doubt,  occur  of 
making  advantageous  investments  of  capital  in 
land  on  speculation  ;  but  the  inducements  to  such 
projects  will  probably  be  limited,  and  to  a  cer- 
tain degree  accidental,  while  Government  con- 
tinues to  grant  lands  either  gratuitously  or  as  a 
reward  for  military  services. 


^  ' 

'i 


18 


LETTER  II. 


<    I 


* 


Philadelphia,  Nov.  2J,  1820, 

My  last  letter  conveyed  to  you  pretty  fully  the 
ideas  which  occurred  to  me,  in  my  visit  to  Cana- 
da, on  the  subject  of  emigration  thither.  I  think 
1  did  not  overstate  the  privations  which  emigrants 
must  undergo  ;  but  I  am  persuaded  that,  in  spite 
of  them  all,  while  it  continues  under  the  British 
Crown,  it  will  be  a  happy  asylum  for  thousands, 
who  will  gradually  arrive,  through  various  degrees 
of  suffering  and  disappointment,  at  comfort  and 
independence. 

The  facilities  and  intrinsic  value  of  Canada — 
the  fertility  of  its  soil — the  beauty  of  its  scenery, 
and  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  greatly  surpassed 
my  previous  ideas,  and,  as  far  as  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  judging,  the  ideas  generally  entertained 
in  England.  Americans  also  appear  to  me  univer- 
sally to  return  to  Canada  with  far  higher  ideas  of 
its  importance  than  they  had  before  conceived ; 
though  I  am  strongly  of  opinio;?  that,  as  an  acqui- 
sition to  the  United  States,  riciiher  the  American 
government  nor  people  regard  it  as  particularly 
<lesirable.  How  far  Great  Britain  is  interested  in 
retaining  it,  has  often  been  doubted  ;  but,  without 
expressing  any  opinion  on  this  subject — rendered 
more  ditiicult  and  complicated  by  its  connexion 
with  considerations  of  much  importance  to  New- 
found  land,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  West  Indies,  and 
its  relation  to  the  just  claims  and  expectations  of 
the  inhabitants — my  feelings,  1  confess.  woiUd  now 


I 


It* 


m 


lead  me  to  protest  strongly  against  the  relinquish- 
ment of  so  fair  a  portion  ol'the  globe  ;  a  beautiful 
romantic  country,  watered  by  a  river  which  dis- 
charges, according  to  the  estimate  of  American 
geographers  and  surveyors,  one  half  more  water 
than  the  Mississippi,  into  which  the  tide  flows  more 
than  four  hundred  miles,  and  which  is  navigable 
for  five  hundred  and  eighty  miles  for  ships  of  five 
hundred  tons.  After  being  frequently  induced  to 
cast  an  envious  eye  on  the  fine  unoccupied  land  of 
the  south-we|stern  part  of  the  United  States,  I  was 
delighted  to  find  that  we  too  had  a  spacious  terri- 
tory, and  a  virgin  soil,  where  millions  may,  with 
common  industry,  attain  ease  and  competence. 

The  present  situation  of  England  had  rendered 
the  subject  of  emigration  so  interesting  when  I 
left  home,  that  it  has  secured  my  attention  during 
every  part  of  my  route  through  the  United  States ; 
but  1  was  perhaps  led  to  endeavour  to  qualify  my- 
self to  form  more  clear  and  decided  views  of  the 
various  advantages  which  different  sections  of  the 
country  respectively  offer,  by  finding,  soon  after 
we  commenced  ourjourney,  that  my  servant  James 
wns  beginning  to  wonder  how  he  and  his  wiiie 
would  look  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.     I  did  not 
at  all  check  the  idea,  but  offered  to  assist  him  in 
getting  all  the  information  in  our  power;  observ- 
ing only,  that  i  would  recommend  him  to  decide 
on  nothing  till  he  had  been  in  Canada,  as  I  should 
think  much  better  of  him,  if  he  preferred,  with  the 
same  inducements,  to  settle  in  a  British  colony  than 
under  a  foreign  government, — that  if  the   United 
Slates.   how«n»r.  presented  greater  inducements. 


*■ 


I 


i 


20 


I  would  give  him  every  assistance  in  settling  there. 
I  also  advised  him  to  make  his  inquiries  as  exten- 
sive and  minute  as  possible,  in  order  that  ili  as  I 
thought  probable  enough,  after  a  few  months  fa- 
miliarity with  solitary  log-huts  and  frontier  settle- 
ments, and  the  exertions  and  privutions  attendant 
on  clearing  forests  and  subduing  a  wiKlerness,  he 
should  be  satisfied  that  England,  after  all,  was  the 
best  place  for  him,  there  might  be  classes  of  his 
countrymen  to  whom  his  information  would  be  im- 
portant. 

With  these  views  we  proceeded  through  the 
new  settling  districts  in  Georgia,  Alabama,  Louis- 
iana, Mississippi, Tennessee,  and  Virginia;  living 
almost  entirely  among  very  recent  emigrants, 
sleeping  with  them  in  their  log-huts,  erected  in 
many  cases  the  week  before,  and  through  the 
sides  and  roofs  of  which  the  stars  twinkled  upon 
us  as  we  lay  on  the  floor,  with  a  brilliancy  quite 
unknown  in  our  little  island. 

My  conversation  with  these  hardy  pioneers 
turned  naturally  on  the  peculiarities  of  their  situ- 
ation, their  past  sacrifices,  or  present  dilHculties, 
and  their  prospective  compensation;  and  as  I 
made  it  a  rule,  from  which  I  deviated  only  in  one 
instance,  to  get  rid  before  night  of  any  compa- 
nions whom  I  might  happen  to  have  picked  up  in 
the  course  of  the  day,  1  was  usually  enabled  to 
make  myself  one  of  the  family,  and  by  sitting 
down  with  them  at  their  meals,  or  over  their  fire, 
to  draw  them  out,  and  render  them  very  commu- 
nicative. By  this  plan  I  not  only  escaped  the  ef- 
fects of  the  possible  ill  temper,  or  want  of  suavity, 


M 


4 


21 


4 


of  a  travelling  companion,  under  the  little  trials  of 
our  novel  accommodations,  but,  by  creating  less 
bustle  in  the  family,  I  saw  things  more  in  their  or- 
dinary state. 

In  our  course  through  the  above  mentioned 
States,  we  met  with  only  three  or  four  cases  in 
which  the  emigrants  regretted  the  change  ;  al- 
though the  price  which  some  of  those  in  Alabama 
had  been  obliged  to  pay  for  their  Indian  corn  the 
first  year,  (and  which  amounted  in  the  case  of  one 
family  to  six  dollars  per  bushel,  and  for  one  pur- 
chase eight,)  had  thrown  them  back  three  or  four 
years  in  their  calculations.  All  these,  however, 
were  iS/awc-States  ;  and  I  was  glad  to  find  that  my 
servant  considered  that  a  decided  objection  to  set- 
tling in  them.  Indeed,  as  no  title  could  be  obtain- 
ed but  by  purchase,  there  were  no  decided  in- 
ducements to  those,  who,  like  him,  have  only  from 
80/.  to  100/. 

We  found  many  families  living  very  comforta- 
bly on  land  which  they  had  taken  possession  of, 
and  had  cleared,  on  the  presumption  that  some 
peculiarities  in  the  situation  would  prevent  its  be- 
ing brought  to  sale  for  many  years,  and  that  they 
should  obtain  something  for  their  improvements, 
even  if  they  should  not  have  realized  sufficient  in 
the  mean  time  to  purchase  a  title  to  their  occu- 
pation. It  is  very  unpopular  to  bid  against  these 
"  Squatters  ;^^  and  for  the  improvements  of  a  single 
year,  and  the  produce  of  a  single  crop,  it  was 
common  for  them,  till  the  late  depression  of  prices, 
to  obtain  a  fair  remuneration  for  the  labour  em- 
ployed. 


•      »  ■  wiwm 


««Im. .,.»«»« 


I 


■  >•* 


'i'he  <ir»t  night  wc  lay  out  in  the  wouds  in  Ain- 
bama,  one  of  the  points  discussed  bj  some  Caroli- 
nian emigrants,  who  came  to  our  fire  to  have  a  lit- 
tle chat  before  bed-time,  was  the  eligibility  of  stop- 
ping on  the  road  a  year,  to  make  and  sell  a  crop 
from  the  public  lands  in  their  way,  or  of  proceed- 
ing without  dolsiy  (o  their  ulterior  destination  in 
(he  state  of  Mississippi.  They  appeared  pretty 
nearly  derided  on  the  former  plan. 

The  Southern  States  presenting,  as  it  appeared 
to  me.  no  adequate  inducement  to  indigent  Eng- 
lish emigrants,  (  turned  my  especial  attention  to 
the  a<lvnntages  offered  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State  of  New-York,  where  it  has  been  understood 
that  many  of  those  destined  lor  Canada  finally  set- 
tle.    I  found  it  impossible  to  learn  with  any  pre- 
cision to  what  extent  the  tide  of  Canadian  emigra- 
tion is  still  diverted  to  the  State  of  New- York  ;  but 
I  am  disposed  to  believe,  that  fewer  in  proportion 
pass  over  into  the  American  limits  than  formerly. 
Neither  could  I  entirely  satisfy  myself  as  <o  the  in- 
ducements to  do  so,  especially  as  the  soil  is  not 
superior  in  the  State  of  New- York ;  and  it  is  not 
very  uncommon  for  Americans  to  go  over  into  Ca- 
nada to  settle.     1  believe,  however,  that  the  prin- 
cii)al  reasons  are  to  he  found  in  the  extreme  acti- 
vity of  the  agents  of  the  Holland  Company  and  Sir 
William   Pulleney's  estate,   (who  are  very   sciici- 
tous  to  promote  the  rapid  settlement  of  their  re- 
spective tracts,)  and  in  the  aid  which  they  afford 
the  emigrant  at  his  outset,  in  letting  him  settle  on 
their  lands  free  of  rent  for  the  first  two  or  three 


•j;{ 


iffoid 
tie  on 
thn'e 


•.! 


v**Hi'!i ;   itsHisliii^  liirii,  prrhap^^  in  raising  a  liltl<.> 
cabin,  or  lending  liitn  a  little  (n(li;in  corn. 

These  trifling  services,  especif»lly  toan  emigrant 
who  has  no  money  with  which  to  pay  his  lees  in 
Canada,  are  not  only  very  seducing  in  prospoct, 
but  essentially  contribute  to  lessen  the  first  and 
severest  difficulties  of  a  new  settler.     Ultimately, 
however,  I  am  disposed  to  think  they  arc  disad- 
vantageous in  the  majority  of  instances;  the  New- 
Y'ork  settler  having  to  begin  .to  provide  for  rent 
and  instalments,  (which,  even  under  the  alleviated 
pressure  of  his  situation,  it  would  require  both 
self-denial  and  good  management  to  save,)  at  the 
very  time  when  the  Canadian  settler  is  emerging 
from  his  greater  difficulties,  and  deriving  a  liberal 
subsistence  for  his  family  from  his  own  unburden- 
ed estate.     I  have  been  told,  that  very  few  per- 
sons under  the  former  system  ultimately  maintain 
possession  of  their  lands;  but  that,  after  support- 
ing themselves  and  their  families  in  greater  or  less 
abundance,  they  are  compelled  to  abandon  their 
improvements  for  arrears  in  rent  or  instalments, 
and,  joining  the  forlorn  hope  on  the  frontiers,  to 
repeat  their  laborious  and  interminable  efforts  to 
convert  the  wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field.     In 
passing  through  the  State  of  New- York,  1   heard 
a  great  deal  of  the  distress  which  at  present  exists 
from  inability  on  the  part  of  the  emigrar>ls  to  pay 
their  rents  and  instalments,  and  of  the  hard  names 
which  the  agents  had  to  bear  for  proceeding  to 
extremities.     Still,  however,   an  active,   prudent 
man,  would,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  suc- 
ceed under  the  system,  and  probably  af^  rapidly  at 


21 


least  as  in  Canada ;  but  it  would  require  greater 
self-denial  to  impose  the  necessary  severities  on 
himself  in  New-YofiC,  than  to  submit  to  therawhen 
unavoidable  in  Canada.  The  general  observa- 
tions which  I  made  concerning  the  classes  to 
whom  emigration  to  Canada  would  prove  a  real 
benefit,  are  equally  applicable  to  emigration  to 
the  United  States ;  but  in  a  future  letter  I  wiil  en- 
deavour to  give  you  some  idea  of  what  farmers, 
who  bring  with  them  a  few  thousand,  instead  of  a 
few  hundred,  pounds,  may  expect  to  do  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  United  States.  I  will,  at  the  same 
time,  tell  you  all  1  can  learn  respecting  Mr.  Birk- 
beck's  settlement. 

I  had  not  intended  to  confine  this  letter  to  such 
dry  statistics ;  but  it  is  too  late  to  begin  on  any 
other  subject. — ^Jimes,  1  believe,  is  disposed  to 
think,  that  he  is  better  at  home  than  in  America ; 
except  in  his  present  capacity,  in  a  city  where  his 
wages  might  be  ten  pounds  per  annum  higher 
than  in  England,  and  where  his  wife^s  services  as 
a  dress-maker,  fine  washer,  &c.  would  be  produc- 
tive. 


LETTER  in. 


Norfolk,  (Virginia,)  Dec.  12,  1820. 

As  engagements  of  various  kinds  begin  to 
thicken  upon  me  previously  to  embarking,  and  I 
have  little  chance  of  any  opportunity  of  writing 
to  vou  as  I  wish^  I  must  continue  to  snatch  little 


I 


07> 


intervals  as  they  present  themselveti,  and  write 

to  you  as  1  can. 

You  are  already  in  possession  of  our  "  person- 
al narrative"  to  a  late  date.     I  will  now  continue 
my   remarks,   scanty  and  superficial  as  I  know 
they  are,  on  the  subject  of  emigration.     1  do  not 
recollect  that  1  omitted  any  thing  at  all  material 
which  occured  to  me  during  my  hasty  progress 
through  the  country,  with  respect  to  the  induce- 
ments offered  to  the  poorer  classes,  who  are  anx- 
ious to  obtain  a  little  land,  from  which  they  may 
derive  a  subsistence  for  their  families  by  personal 
exertion.     On  the  more  difficult  subject  of  the 
advantages  which  agriculturists,  with  a  capital  of 
a  few  thousand  pounds,  would  derive  from  com- 
ing to  this  country,  I  shall  enter  with  greater  re- 
luctance ;  because  it   is  one   in  the  minutiae  of 
which  I  feel  still  less  at  home,  although  I  have 
taken  pains  to  obtain  such  information  as  would 
lead  me  to  conclusions  on  which  I  could  rely. 
The  fact  is,  that  of  the  more  recent  settlements, 
(even  of  those  less  remote  than  Mr.  Birkbeck's,) 
little  is  known  on  the  coast,   and  the  accounts 
which  you  receive  from  casual  visiters  are  usual- 
ly as  vague  and  'naccurate  as  those  derived  from 
persons  interested  are  exaggerated  and  partial. 
Opinions  respecting  all  the  settlements,  is  easy 
enough  to  collect ;  but  facts,  on  which  to  found 
opinions  entitled  to  any  consideration,  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  obtain. 

I  have  met  with  two  persons  only  who  have 
actually  been  at  Mr.  Birkbeck's  settlement;  one 
in  the  course  of  the  last  summer,  the  other  |ps5 

4 


i«Mm 


**  i  \U 


!1 

h 


11 


1  k 


I'  \i 


'2(i 


than  eight  weeks  since.  They  both  state,  that  he 
has  now  a  very  comfortable  house,  excellent  fen- 
ces, and  from  60  to  80  acres  of  Indian  corn ;  but 
that  he  has  raised  little  or  no  wheat,  finding  it 
more  desirable,  on  the  whole,  to  purchase  flour 
at  Harmony,  eighteen  miles  distant. 

1  have  not  Mr.  Birkbeck^s  book  before  me  to 
refer  to,  in  order  to  see  whether  this  is  his  third 
or  fourth  year ;  but,  in  either  case,  the  result  dif- 
fers so  widely  from  his  anticipations,  as  to  render 
it  difficult  for  him  to  elude  the  charge  of  being  a 
vild  and  sanguine  speculator. 

fn  one  of  his  estimates,  he  stated  the  following 
as  the  quantity  of  produce  which  a  settler  on  640 
acres,  may  expect  to  raise  in  the  first  four 
years : — 

1st  year,  100  acres  of  Indian  corn. 

2d  year,  100  ditto        ditto. 
100  ditto  Wheat. 

'Ad  year,  200  ditto  Indian  corn. 
100  ditto  Wheat. 

4th  year,  200  ditto  Indian  corn. 
200  ditto  Wheat. 

This  estimate  was  made  not  later,  /  believe,  at 
any  rate  than  in  181 7,  (you  can  refer  to  his  book :) 
and  yet  in  the  autumn  of  1820,  he  hps  little  or  no 
wheat,  and  only  60  or  80  acres  of  Indian  corn, 
though  possessing  unquestionably,  in  his  skill  and 
resources,  more  than  the  average  advantages  of 
new  settlers,  and  stimulated  to  extraordinary  ex- 
ertions by  a  regard  to  his  reputation.  So  much 
for  quantity.  With  respect  to  price,  in  his  esti- 
mate of  profit,  he  takes  wheat  at  seventy-five,  and 


•Jy 


Indian  corn  at  forty,  cents  per  bustiel.  1  cannoi 
hear  of  any  actual  sales  on  the  Wabash,  to  fix  the 
prices  on  the  spot;  but  in  both  Kentucky  and 
Ohio,  wheat  is  at  twenty  five  to  thirty-three,  and 
Indian  corn  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  bush- 
el :  while  the  fact  that  he  regards  it  as  more  de- 
sirable to  buy  and  transport  flour  eighteen  miles, 
than  to  raise  it  at  home,  furnishes  a  strong  pre- 
sumption that  he  can  derive  little  profit  from  its 
cultivation.  The  gentleman  whom  I  mentioned, 
as  being  there  a  few  weeks  since,  told  me  that  Mr. 
Birkbeck  was  preparing  to  sow  a  little  wheat  this 
winter ;  but  that  he  regarded  grazing  as  the  most 
profitable  object  of  his  future  attention.  Of  the 
price  of  labour,  and  of  foreign  articles  of  domes- 
tic economy,  I  could  obtain  no  satisfactory  infor- 
mation. I  lately  met  a  gentleman  who  has  been 
travelling  extensively  through  the  western  coun- 
try. He  did  not  visit  Mr.  Birkbeck^s  settlement, 
but  saw  two  English  families  returning  from  it 
sickly  and  debilitated  ;  their  inability  to  preserve 
their  health  there  being,  as  they  alleged,  their 
principal  reason  for  leaving  the  colony.  He  also 
met  an  English  gentleman  of  property  who  had 
been  to  examine  the  place,  with  a  view  of  taking 
his  family  thither :  he  said,  the  sight  of  it,  and  a 
conviction  that  it  was  unhealthy,  decided  him  at 
once  to  relinquish  the  idea ;  that  he  considered 
the  selection  a  most  unfortunate  one  for  Mr.  Birk- 
beck, and  that  the  number  of  the  colonists  did 
not  exceed  two  hundred. 

I  have  heard  others  speak  rather  favourably  of 
the  healthiness  of  Mr.  Birkheck^s  particular  spoU 


k 


ft 


*'  If 

i 


I 


28 

to  which  his  draining-fences  will  contribute ;  but 
all  represent  Illinois  in  general  as  a  most  un- 
healthy state,  where  the  people  for  the  most  part 
are  pallid  and  emaciated,  and  exhibit  the  languor 
and  apathy  which  follow  frequent  or  long-continu- 
ed intermittents. 

I  became  sadly  too  familiar  with  this  melan- 
choly spectacle  on  my  south-western  route: 
scarcely  one  family  in  six  in  extensive  districts  in 
the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  and 
Mississippi,  being  exempt  from  fever  and  ague; 
and  many  of  them  exhibiting  tall  young  men  of 
eighteen  to  thirty  moving  feebly  about  the  house, 
completely  unfitted  for  exertion,  after  fifteen  or 
eighteen  months'  residence,  or  rendered  indolent 
or  inefficient  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  In  Geor- 
gia and  Carolina,  we  were  told  in  a  jocular  way, 
that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  person  who  was 
invited  to  dinner  on  a  particular  day,  Wednes- 
day for  instance,  to  begin  reckoning  "  Monday — 
Tuesday — Wednesday — No ;  I  cannot  come  to 
you  on  Wednesday,  for  that  is  my  fever  day." — 
The  two  gentlemen  who  had  visited  Mr.  Birkbeck 
agreed  in  stating,  what  has  often  been  denied, 
that  he  has  a  well  of  excellent  water. 

On  the  whole,  \  am  disposed  to  think  that  Mr. 
Birkbeck's  sanguine  anticipations  have  been  grie- 
vously disappointed,  and  would  have  been  proved 
by  the  result  to  have  been  extravagant,  independ- 
ently of  the  recent  changes  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  country.  At  the  same  time,  i  have  no 
doubt  that  even  his  present  views  of  his  situation 
and  prospects,  moderated  as  they  must  be  by  his 


29 


past  experience^  embraces  advantages  which  in 
his  estimate  far  outweigh  the  privations  and  sa- 
crifices attending  his  removal  hither,  and  lead 
him  still  to  congratulate  himself  warmly  on  his 
change  of  country.  And,  indeed,  in  possession 
of  all  the  substantial  comforts  of  physical  life:  re- 
moved beyond  the  sphere  of  those  invidious  com- 
parisons which  would  render  him  sensible  to  ar- 
tificial wants  ;  exempt  from  present  anxieties,  and 
with  a  reasonable  prospect  of  leaving  every  mem- 
ber of  his  family  independent  and  prosperous, 
his  situation,  in  a  worldly  point  of  view,  is  a  very 
comfortable  one.  I  am  iiichned  however  to 
think,  that  independently  of  his  ambition  to  found 
a  colony,  and  his  apparent  anxiety  while  on  the 
move  to  get  as  far  as  possible  from  his  native 
country — an  anxiety  for  which  true  English  feel- 
ing finds  it  difficult  to  account — he  might  have  in- 
vested his  property  in  some  of  the  Atlantic  States, 
with  as  much  or  more  advantage  to  at  least  one 
or  two  generations  of  his  family,  and  with  a  far 
less  sacrifice  of  present  comfort.  Should  his  fam- 
ily, however,  retain  any  large  quantity  of  land,  a 
growing  density  of  population  in  the  western 
country,  and  even  in  Illinois,  notwithstanding  its 
present  unhealthiness,  may  render  it  a  source  of 
wealth  in  future  years. 

In  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  without  a  Eu- 
ropean market,  agricultural  profits  in  this  country 
must  be  extremely  small ;  among  other  reasons, 
because  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  population, 
compared  with  most  other  countries,  will  be  land 
proprietors,  and  so  small  a  proportion  dependent 


^'■4imm!^.i-  ap= 


30 


■I 


on  others  tor  their  agricultural  produce ;  and  bie- 
cause  the  great  fertility  of  the  soil  will  leave  an 
unusually  large  supply,  alter  maintaining  the  la* 
bouro  -9  employed  in  its  cultivation.  It  appears 
to  me  that  the  natural  tendency  of  this  state  of 
things  among  an  industrious  and  enterprising 
people,  is  to  encourage  domestic  manufactures; 
I  mean  manufactures  really  domestic — made  in 
the  family — the  produce  of  that  labour  which 
higher  agricultural  profits  would  retain  in  the 
field,  but  which  there  appears  to  be  no  induce- 
ment to  employ  in  the  cultivation  of  produce 
which  will  sell  for  little  or  nothing  when  raised. 
This  is  a  species  of  manufacture  in  a  great  mea- 
sure independent  for  its  prosperity  on  governments 
or  tariffs ;  for  it  is  of  little  importance  to  the  small 
farmer,  that  foreign  manufactures  are  tolerably 
low,  if  his  produce  will  neither  command  them, 
nor  money  to  buy  them.  He  can  obtain  his 
clothing  in  exchange  for  his  leisure  hours;  but 
then  it  must  be  by  employing  those  hours  in  ac- 
tually making  his  clothing,  and  not  through  the 
intervention  of  agricultural  produce.  I  am  sur- 
prised to  find  to  how  great  an  extent  this  spe- 
cies of  maimfactures  is  carried,  and  how  rapidly 
the  events  of  the  last  two  years  have  increased  it. 
in  some  parts  of  the  state  of  New-York,  I  was  told 
the  little  farmers  could  not  make  a  living  without 
it.  In  Pennsylvania,  it  is  perhaps  still  more  gene- 
ral ;  some  of  the  lower  descriptions  of  East  In- 
dia goods  having  almost  entirely  given  place  to  a 
domestic  substitute  actually  made  in  the  family ; 
and  the  importations  of  Irish  linens  having  been 


M 


most  seriously  checked  by  the  greatly  increased 
cultivation  and  manufacture  of  flax  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  Philadelphia.  In  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  I  had  opportunities  of  seeing 
these  domestic  manufactures  as  I  passed  in  the 
stage :  and  on  my  horseback  route  it  was  a  con- 
stant source  of  surprise — to  you  I  may  add,  with- 
out danger  of  being  suspected  to  be  a  Radical, 
and  of  gratification  ;  for  this  combination  of  agri- 
culture and  manufacture  in  the  same  family  ap- 
pears to  me  to  form  a  state  of  society  of  all  others 
the  best  adapted  to  produce  a  happy,  independent, 
and  domestic  population.  If  I  mistake  not,  Ameri- 
ca will  exhibit  this  combination  in  a  greater  de- 
gree than  any  nation  with  which  I  am  acquaint- 
ed, unless  the  permanent  removal  of  our  corn  laws 
should  give  a  new  stimulus  to  her  agricultural 
labour ;  and  even  then,  the  immensity  of  her  fer- 
tile territory  might  enable  her  to  supply  our  wants 
without  checking  her  in  any  material  degree  in 
the  career  I  have  anticipated  for  her.—- But  1  did 
not  intend  to  enter  on  these  speculations.  I  have 
sometimes  wished  you  could  see  what  a  pretty 
family  picture  a  mother  and  two  daughters  make ; 
the  mother  spinning,  and  keeping  a  daughter  on 
each  <>fde  most  actively  occupied  in  carding  for 
her. — In  the  hope  that  this  picture  will  play 
around  your  imagination,  and  lead  you  to  forget 
how  dry  a  letter  you  have  been  reading,  I  will 
conclude  for  the  present,  especially  as  I  am  arri- 
ving at  the  end  of  my  paper.  I  intend,  if  I  have 
time,  that  another  letter  shall  accompany  this. 


1^ 


^, 


mm 


im 


Si»0&1a.i.  .-SKr^iw 


3:2 


LETTER  IV. 


ih 


1 


Norfolk,  {Virginia)  Dec.  13,  1820. 

The  little  digression  into  which  I  was  insensi- 
bly led  in  ray  letter  of  yesterday,  prevented  me 
from  completing  my  remarks  on  Mr.  Birkbeck.  I 
have  already  mentioned  some  of  my  reasons  for 
supposing  that,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  thinr^s, 
agricultural  profits  will  be  generally  low  in  this 
country.  Nor  am  I  aware  of  any  peculiarities  in 
Birkbeck^s  situation  which  would  form  an  excep- 
tion in  his  favour  in  this  particular.  It  must  not 
be  forgotten,  that  while  the  imminent  danger  of 
flour  turning  sour  at  New  Orleans,  his  principal 
market,  is  to  be  set  against  the  advantages  he 
may  possess  over  the  farmers  in  the  Atlantic 
States;  in  his  competition  with  the  graziers  of 
Ohio,  his  great  distance  from  the  Atlantic  cities 
may  more  than  counterbalance  the  benefit  of  a 
readier  access  to  extensive  prairies.  At  present 
I  am  told,  that  the  expense  of  conveying  flour 
from  Illinois,  and  selling  it  at  New  Orleans,  would 
leave  little  or  nothing  for  the  grower  of  the  wheat; 
and  I  have  been  assured,  on  the  authority  pf  sev- 
eral persons  who  have  passed  through  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  this  autumn,  that  in  many  cases  the  far- 
mers would  not  cut  their  wheat,  but  turned  their 
cattle  into  it;  and  that  in  others,  the  tenants 
would  hardly  accept  of  the  landlord's  moiety  of 
the  produce  which  they  had  stipulated  to  give 
him  for  rent. 


*~jtii 


3a 


Mr.  Mellisli,  the  traveller  and  geograplier, 
whom  I  frequently  saw  in  Philadelphia,  showed 
me  a  letter  from  Mr.  Birkbeck,  in  which  he  says: 
"There  is  an  error  of  some  importance  in  my 
Letters ;  and  I  wish  that  a  correction  of  it  could 
accompany  the  publication.  In  my  estimate  of 
the  expenses  of  cultivating  these  prairies,  I  have 
not  made  sulficient  allowance  of  lime  for  the 
innumerable  delays  which  attend  a  new  establish- 
ment in  a  new  country.  I  would  now  add  to  the 
debtor  side  a  year  of  preparation^  which  will  of 
course  make  a  material  deduction  from  the  profits 
at  the  commencement  of  the  undertaking." 

On  the  whole,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  ex- 
perience will  suggest  to  Mr.  Birkbeck  some  mode 
of  making  money,  though  far  more  slowly  than 
he  expected ;  and  I  think  the  general  estimate  of 
the  merits  of  his  situation,  by  the  natural  reaction 
of  his  exaggerated  statements,  is  at  present  a  lit- 
tie  beloio  the  truth. 

I  should  not  be  surprised  if  a  new  and  exten- 
sive market  were  gradually  opened  to  the  wes- 
tern farmers  among  a  population  employed  or  cre- 
ated by  manufacturing  establishments  beyond  the 
mountains.  Wool  may  be  raised  on  the  spot  with 
tolerable  facility ;  and  I  have  already  mentioned 
the  low  rate  of  freight  at  which,  in  Ohio,  they  can 
obtain  cotton  from  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  in 
exchange  for  wheat,  which  will  scarcely  grow  at 
all  in  the  southern  countries. 

As  the  Waltham  factory,  near  Boston,  can  sus- 
tain itself  so  well  against  foreign  competition,  I 
do  not  know  whv  cotton  mills  should  not  Nourish 


')l 


•tMOBl 


M 


in  Ohio,  where  mill-seats  are  numerous  and  ex- 
cellent, provisions  low,  labour  moderate,  and  the 
protection  contemplated  by  the  duty  on  foreign 
articles  increased  by  distatice  from  the  coast. 
Hitherto  capital  has  been  wanted,  commerce  and 
land-speculations  absorbing  all  that  could  be  beg- 
ged or  borrowed;  but  the  India  trade  is  at 
present  discouraging,  the  land  mania  has  partly 
subsided,  and  money  is  readily  to  be  had  on  good 
security  for  five  per  cent. 

From  what  I  hear  of  Ohio,  I  know  of  no  place 
where  a  young,  enterprising,  skilful  cotton-spin- 
ner, with  from  5000/.  to  15,000/.  capital,  fond  of 
farming,  and  exempt  from  those  delicate  sensibi- 
lities which  would  make  his  heart  yearn  towards 
the  land  of  his  nativity,  would  pass  his  time  more 
to  his  mind,  or  be  in  a  fairor  way  of  realizing  a 
large  fortune.  To  the  mere  farmer  or  agricultu- 
rist also,  I  should  consider  it  an  inviting  btate.  1 
was  told  by  the  late  governor  of  Ohio — one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  that  State,  and  for  many  years 
one  of  its  representatives  in  Congress,  a  very  ac- 
tive, intelligent  man,  with  whom  I  have  already 
made  you  acquainted — that  unimproved  land  is 
to  be  had  at  1^  to  2  dollars  per  acre,  for  good 
quality;  improved  with  buildings,  and  pretty 
good,  6  dolls,  and  20  .to  30  dolls,  for  the  best  in  the 
country.  He  considers  that  farming  capital,  well 
managed  by  a  practical  hard-working  farmer,  as- 
sisted by  his  family,  produces  six  to  nine  per  cent, 
at  the  low  prices  of  \2^  cents  for  Indian  corn, 
and  25  cents  for  wheat,  and  fifteen  to  twenty  per 
cent,  at  25  cents  for  Indian  corn,  and  50  cents  for 


■i 
•J 


# 


:vj 


wlieat.  I  should  imagine  this  was  too  hi^h  a  nv 
turn  to  calculate  upon  where  labourers  were  to 
be  hired,  and  the  capital  large ;  but  he  seemed 
to  siy  it  was  not.  and  added,  that  grazing  would 
pay  much  betler  interest,  the  cattle  being  sold  to 
drovers  from  Philadelphia,  with  herds  of  cattle 
which  they  had  purchased  from  the  Indians  1 000 
or  1200  miles  from  their  destined  markets. 

I  asked  a  very  respectable  and  intelligent  resi- 
dent in  Ohio,  how  he  would  recommend  an  En- 
glishman, coming  to  settle  in  that  State  as  a  farm- 
er to  employ  his  .WOOL  supposing  that  to  be  his 
capital.  He  said  he  would  purchase  a  farm  and 
stock  with  500/.  leave  2000/.  in  government  or 
bank  securities  bearing  interest  to  bring  in  a  cer- 
tain income,  and  the  remaining  2.')00/.,  he  would 
invest  judiciously  in  land  to  be  left  to  improve  in 
value  as  a  speculation.  On  this  last,  he  would 
venture  to  underwrite  a  profit  of  100  per  cent,  in 
ten  years,  asking  no  other  premium  than  the  ex- 
cess above  100  percent.  Many  bargains  are  now 
daily  offering.  He  said,  if  a  person  vested  1000/. 
in  a  farm  and  stock,  and  in  making  his  house 
comfortable,  2000/.  in  government  securities, 
yielding  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  2000/.  in  land 
to  lie  idle,  improving  in  value ;  the  six  per  cent, 
which  he  might  safely  calculate  on  making  from 
his  farm,  besides  maintaining  his  family  on  its 
produce,  added  to  the  six  per  cent,  for  his  2000/. 
in  money  securities — together  180/. — would  en- 
able him  to  keep  a  carriage  and  two  horses  and 
three  servants,  and  to  enjoy  many  of  the  comforts  of 
life.     This,   too,  I  consider  highly  coloured,  after 


mmtmmmm 


Mi 


H 


!  '■  M 


Tnnking  every  allowance  for  the  diffbrence   be- 
Iwreii  his  estimate  of  comforts  and  ours.     His 
would  prohfibly  exclude  wine,  and  tea,  and  cof- 
fee; or  at  least  his  coffee  would  probably  be  pale 
enough  when  every  pound  cost  one  or  two  bush- 
els of  wheat.     English  ideas  also  as  to  clothes, 
even   on  a  peace-establishment  in  the  western 
wilds,  and  still  more  as  to  education,  would  pro- 
bably differ  widely  from  those  of  my  informant. 
The  expense  of  a  good  boarding  school  or  "  sem- 
inary" for  boys  or  girls,  (in  this  country  they  have 
as  few  schools  as  shops^   except   Sunday-schools, 
though  as  many  seminaries  and  academies  as  stores^) 
is  35/.  per  annum  near  Chillicothe.     He  has  some 
of  his  family  at  school  on  these  terms ;  nnd  I  think 
he  said  that  at  the  female  "  seminary"  Latin  was 
taught,  if  desired.     In  dress  and  manner  he  is  of 
about  the  same  "  grade,"  as  the  Americans  would 
say,  as  a  respectable  Yorkshire  farmer,  possessing 
an  estate  of  8000/.  or  12,000/.  and  lives,  I  should 
imagine,  somewhat  in  the  same  style,  with  a  table 
perhaps   more    profusely  spread  with  domestic 
produce, — such  as  beef,  mutton,  venison,  turkeys, 
game,  and  fruit, — and  more  restricted  in  foreign 
wine  and  colonial  luxuries.     He  spoke  of  going 
over  to  England  to  bring  two  or  three  hundred 
people  with  him  to  Ohio,  where  "  he  would  make 
them  so  happy;"  but  his  family  attachments  bind 
him  to  home.     Such  men  as  the  overlooker  of 
your  mill,  or  others  equally  steady  and  experien- 
ced, but  more  acute,  would  prosper  well  in  Ohio 
under   his   auspices.     They  would    be    growing 
rich,  while  the  poor  settler  on  land  would  be  only 


# 


.t: 


cointbrtnble  and  independent ;  a  condition,  how- 
ever, by  no  means  to  be  despised,  espeeially  when 
capable  of  suggesting  such  poetical  ideas  as  the 
following : — 

Tis  1  can  delve  and  plough,  love, 
And  you  can  npin  and  stw  ; 
And  We'll  sfttlr^  on  the  hunks 
Of  the  pleasant  Ohio. 

The  present  is  a  most  favourable  season  for  in- 
vesting money  in  this  country ;  and  a  judicious 
capitalist,  who  would  take  time  to  look  about  him, 
and  watch  opportunities,  might  lay  out  his  money 
to  great  advantage.  The  depreciation  of  real  es- 
tate throughout  the  Union  is  perfectly  astonishing, 
and  sales  are  occasionally  tbrced  at  sacrifices 
almost  incrtdible.  You  will  have  seen  in  the 
American  newspapers,  the  various  plans  before 
Congress,  and  the  recommendation  in  the  Report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  tor  remitting  part 
of  the  price,  and  extending  the  time  of  payment 
to  those  purchasers  of  the  public  lands  whose  in- 
stalments are  not  yet  paid  up.  This  proposed  re- 
lief will  probably  prevent  the  Alabama  settlers 
from  executing  the  intentions,  which  in  my  letters 
from  thence  I  mentioned  having  been  so  generally 
expressed  to  me,  of  relinquishing  their  purchases, 
and  forfeiting  the  instalments  already  paid. 

In  Richmond,  where  the  disastrous  results  of 
the  Bank  mania  have  been  pre-eminently  conspi- 
cuous, and  where  real  estate  has  fallen  .OO  to  ITt 
per  cent,  there  having  been  srv^jral  instances  in 
which  property  having  been  s^»U^  payable  in  three 
or  four  instalments,  has,  after  the  payment  of  all 
the  previous  instalments,  been  transferred  to  the 


r^ 


:i« 


seller  to  discharge  the  last.  Ft  is  estimated  thai, 
more  than  one  half  of  the  city  and  its  immediate 
vicinity  is  mortgaged  to  the  banks. 

Ill  Baltimore,  ahoul  one-third  is  similarly  situa- 
ted, and  property  there  i.s  only  prev-rjted  from 
exhibiting  a  depreciation  nearly  equal  to  that  of 
Richmond,  by  the  policy  adopted  by  the  banks 
of  holding  it,  in  the  expectation  that  its  gradual 
advance  will  pay  them  a  better  interest  for  their 
money  than  could  be  obtained  from  investments 
or  discounts,  if  thev  were  to  force  a  sale.  A  house 
and  store  were  pointed  out  to  me  in  Baltimore,  in 
the  principal  commercial  street,  which  about  1816 
were  let  for  2000  dollars  per  arinum,  but  are  now 
let  at  only  600.  This  is  an  extreme  case ;  but 
taking  the  city  generally,  it  would  probably  be 
correct  to  estimate  the  decline  in  rents  at  from 
40  to  .00  per  cent.  Real  estate  has  fallen  from  33 
to  00  per  cent ;  the  interruption  to  the  intercourse 
between  the  United  States  and  the  West  Indies, 
having  raised  the  calamities  of  this  town  to  a  level 
with  iV.^  general  distress  in  which  it  might  other- 
wise have  participated  less  deeply  than  some  of 
its  neighbours,  from  having  been  visited  less  se- 
verely with  those  worse  than  Egyptian  plagues, 
bank  discounts  of  accommodation  notes,  renewa- 
ble ad  infinitum. 

Labour  here,  as  in  all  slave  States,  falls  almost 
exclusively  on  the  slaves :  and  the  porterage  of  the 
town,  the  loading  and  discharging  of  ships,  &:c. 
are  performed  by  those  who  are  either  hired  out 
by  their  masters  by  the  week, or  allov,ed.  on  pay- 
ing their  masters  a  certain  sum,  generally  at»ont 


■*.  * 


39 


two  dollars  per  we<^k,  to  find  work  lor  themselves 
and  retain  the  surplus. 

Allowing  for  the  diflTerent  effects  of  a  system  of 
this  kind  and  a  system  of  free  labour,  and  fully 
aware  how  slowly,  though  certainty,  the  price  of 
labour  follows  the  price  of  provisions,  1  was 
surprised  to  find  that  while  the  latter  has  fallen 
two-thirds,  the  former  has  declined  less  than  a 
fourth.  This  is  owing  partly  to  the  circumstance 
of  the  owners  of  the  coloured  labourers  being  able 
to  hold  out  on  any  particular  occasion  against  an 
attempt  to  reduce  their  wages;  an  attempt  which 
can  seldom  be  eflfectually  resisted  by  persons 
whose  daily  labour  must  obtain  their  daily  bread  ; 
partly  to  conscientious  scruples,  which  deter  many 
holders  of  hereditary  or  domestic  slaves  from 
trafficking  in  humun  flesh,  and  others  from  buying 
their  fellow-creatures  to  hire  them  out  like  cattle; 
but  principally  to  such  an  irregularity  of  demand 
as  renders  it  impossible  to  adjust  the  supply  lO  its 
casual  fluctuations,  and  induces  a  necessity  of  in- 
cluding in  the  remuneration  for  the  hours  employ- 
ed, some  compensation  for  those  lost  in  waiting  for 
employment. 

Slaves,  who  in  Norfolk  are  now  worth  on  an 
average  300  to  100  dollars  each,  receive  from  the 
merchant  who  engaj2;es  their  services,  seventy-five 
cents  per  day,  and  their  food.  These  are  enor- 
mous wages,  where  turkeys,  weighing  five  or  six 
pounds,  will  sell  for  Is.  9d.  sterling,  and  wild  ducks 
at  2s  per  couple;  and  where  flour  is  four  dollars 
per  barrel,  Indian  corn,  their  favourite  food,  forty 
I'cnts  per  bushel,  and  beef  and   mutton  five  to 


1  11 


iF''mmmimmmmmi''mmmmmmm 


40 

eight  cents  per  poutul.  As  sailors,  the  master  can 
obtain  for  their  slaves  ten  dollars  per  month  :  and 
there  are  many  families  in  Norfolk,  especially 
many  widows  and  orphans,  whose  property  con- 
sists entirely  of  hereditary  slaves,  whon  they  hire 
out  as  the  only  means  of  obtaining  an  income. 


'? 


LETTER  V. 

New -York,   Dec.  ai,  lliSO. 

1  "WROTK  to  you  two  long  lettersfrom  Norfolk, which 
have  not  yet  found  a  conveyance ;  and  on  the  22d 

I  addressed  to  your  care  a  long  letter  to ,  with 

an  account  of  our  visit  to  Norfolk  and  return  to 
Baltimore.  We  left  that  city  on  the  1 8th,  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  an  open  stage  waggon, 
having  decided  to  return  to  Philadelphia  through 
York  and  Lancaster,  instead  of  the  old  steamboat 
route,  as  it  would  occupy  no  more  time.  The 
morning  was  bitterly  cold  ;  and  as  the  roads  were 
a  sheet  of  ice,  and  our  horses  unprepared,  we  ad- 
vanced only  three  miles  an  hour,  for  several  hours, 
when  we  arrived  at  a  German's,  where  we  pro- 
cured breakfast  and  fresh  horses. 

The  face  of  the  country,  the  thirty  miles  we 
continued  in  Maryland,  presents,  like  almost  eve- 
ry other  part  of  that  State  which  I  ^have  seen,  a 
beautiful  specimen  of  hill  and  dale,  of  which  from 
one-third  io  one-half  is  woodland,  young  vigorous 
trees  of  second  growth,  so  nearly  of  the  same  size, 
and  so  regularly  disposed,  that  they  perpetually 
suggest  the  idea  that  they  have  been  planted  by 


41 


the  liand  of  man.  1  know  no  part  of  England 
which  would  give  you  a  precise  idea  of  Maryland 
hill  and  dale.  Sometimes  the  scenery  reminded 
rae  of  the  forest  lands  near  Loughborough  ;  but 
the  undulations  are  bolder,  and  succeed  each 
other  in  interesting  variety,  as  far  as  the  horizon; 
sometimes  of  Derbyshire — Ashbourne  for  instance 
— but  the  hills  are  less  frequently  broken  by  ab- 
rupt and  precipitous  cliffs,  or  the  dales  contracted 
into  deep  romantic  valleys.  About  thirty  miles 
from  Baltimore,  we  entered  York  county,  in  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania.  For  the  first  few  miles  the 
houses  were  of  hewn  log  and  plaster,  like  those 
of  Maryland;  afterwards  of  stone  and  brick.  As 
we  advanced,  the  face  of  the  country,  still  beauti- 
ful, principally  hill  and  dale,  began  to  exhibit  a 
much  higher  state  of  cultivation,  and  the  houses 
assumed  a  more  comfortable  and  prosperous  ap- 
pearance. We  now  obtained  a  sight  of  the  fine 
barns  for  which  the  Germans  are  celebrated,  and 
of  which  we  had  heard  much.  The  land  was 
worth  from  10  to  50  dollars  per  acre,  in  farms  of 
from  fifty  to  two  hundred  acres,  occupied  almost 
exclusively  by  Gernirin  proprietors.  The  instan- 
ces of  land  being  rented  were  rare;  and  in  those 
cases  the  landlord  usually  received  half  the  gross 
produce  for  rent,  1  was  told,  (and  although  I  do 
not  vouch  tor  the  entire  accuracy  of  all  the  "o« 
f/«V*"  I  send  you  on  subjects  like  this,  I  seldom 
give  them  uriless  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
cross  examination,)  that  the  less  opulent  farmers 
in  this  neighbourhood  expend  scarcely  any  money 
in  articles  of  consumption,  either  vesting  their 


I  J 


""""-"^p 


42 


H 


i  i 


property  in  land,  or  hoarding  it  in  a  safe  place. 
They  are  stated  to  make  tlieir  own  cotton  and 
woollen  clothes,  their  stockings,  shirts,  and  sheet- 
ings,— exchanging  wool  with  the  hatter  for  hats, 
leather  with  the  tanner  for  shoes,  substituting  rye 
i'or  coffee,  (now  partially  employed  even  in  some 
of  the  cities,  where  it  is  sold  in  the  shops,)  using 
no  tea,  and  very  little  sugar,  which  little  they  pro- 
cure in  exchange  for  the  produce  of  their  fine  or- 
chards. The  best  informed  of  them  teach  their 
children  in  the  evenings ;  and  sometimes  they 
agree  to  board  a  schoolmaster  at  their  houses  gra- 
tuitously, and  in  succession,  thus  enabling  him  to 
reduce  his  terms  to  a  mere  trifle.  They  are  said 
to  be  sociable,  and  very  sensible  of  the  comibrt 
and  independence  of  their  condition. 

Our  driver  on  this  part  of  the  road  had  emigrat- 
ed from  Macclesfield,  in  Cheshire,  where  he  drove 
a  chaise,  and  knew  many  of  our  friends  there.  For 
some  time  he  drove  the  Lancaster  mail  from  Pres- 
ton. He  came  out,  he  said,  in  his  '''•uniformal  dress 
of  an  English  coachman,"  with  a  broad  hat,  long 
great  coat,  woollen  cord  breeches,  and  jockey 
boots;  all  which  he  has  discarded  for  uncharac- 
teristic, shabby,  yet  pretending,  blue  coat,  black 
waistcoat,  and  blue  pantaloons.  He  procured 
employment  in  two  days ;  and  his  gains  have  av- 
eraged for  the  last  two  years  2H  dollars  per  month, 
with  part  of  his  board.  I  told  him  that  I  hoped, 
when  he  made  his  bargain,  he  did  not  count  upon 
any  money  from  the  passengers :  he  said,  "  Oh  no ! 
'  Please  to  remember  the  coachman'  would  not  do 
here :    it  would   be  degrading  to  ask ;  althougli 


43 


■| 


genteel  people  sometimes  press  me  to  take  some 
thing,  which  I  do  not  refuse."  After  this  hint,  I 
did  not  hesitate  to  follow  the  natural  impulse  I 
felt  to  give  an  old  Lancaster  driver  some  refresh- 
ment. As  he  seemed  a  very  decent,  sensible  man, 
1  asked  him  various  questions,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
give  no  particular  direction  to  his  answers,  and 
found  his  ideas  of  the  country  and  people  were 
very  similar  to  my  own.  To  a  (question  whether 
he  found  the  Americans  more  or  less  civil  than 
the  English,  he  replied,  "  I  think  they  are  more 
accommodating  and  friendly,  and  more  ready  to 
oblige  either  a  stranger  or  one  another; — but,  H 
be  sure,  they  have  always  been  in  the  habit  of 
helping  a  neighbour,  and  have  never  known  the 
depravity  like  of  a  condition  which  made  them 
obliged  to  look  to  themselves.  I  was  surprised  to 
see  them  so  friendly  to  every  body." 

He  quite  agreed  with  me  that  labourers,  gener- 
ally speaking,  have  no  reasonable  prospect  of  im- 
proving their  condition,  however  uncomfortable, 
by  coming  hither, — I  mean  to  the  jithntic  States : 
in  the  Western  country,  industry  and  self-denial 
will  force  their  way.  Very  superior  merit,  or  sin- 
gular good  fortune,  may  still  raise  some  to  inde- 
pendence ;  but  five  out  of  ten  may  wander  about 
for  weeks,  or  months,  in  the  agricultural  districts 
of  Pennsylvania,  without  findirjg  regular  employ- 
ment, or  the  means  of  supporting  themselves  by 
their  labour.  One  of  our  pissengers,  a  respecta- 
ble looking  man,  said,  that  a  friend  of  his  had  been 
applied  to  by  a  i,'-oor/ labourer  of  character,  whom 
he  had  long  known,  offering  to  work  till  the  spring 


T. 


iM 


41 


s  J: 


^i    1 


i 


tor  his  food,  which  offer  was  declined.  In  the 
neighbourhood  of  Philadelphia,  I  heard  of  many 
instances  of  less  skilful  labourers  making  similar 
applications  in  vain. 

About  3  o'clock  we  stopped  to  dine  at  York,  a 
town  not  unlike  Loughborough  at  a  distance.    We 
were  not  expected ;  and  though  there  were  only 
two  passengers  who  dined,  the  landlord   made 
many  apologies  lor  producing  only  a  beefsteak, 
veal  cutlet,  and  tart,  instead  of  the  turkey,  ham, 
and  two  or  three  joints  of  meat  usually  set  on  the 
table,  even  for  a  small  party. — Immediately  on 
leaving  York,  we  entered  a  beautiful  and  interest- 
ing valley,  called  "  Creek  Valley,"  where  the  land 
is  said  to  be  as  good  as  in  almost  any  part  of  the 
United  States.     On  each  side  of  the  road  were 
fiiie  large  fields,  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
One  of  the  passengers,  well  acquainted  with  the 
neighbourhood,  mentioned  to  me  the  value  of  the 
several  estates  as  we  passed.     The  first,  rather 
more  than  three  hundred  acres  in  extent,  with  a 
house,  and  large  and  extensive  barns  and  stabling, 
which  together  cost  erecting  about  10,000  dollars, 
were  sold  two  years  since  at  260  dollars  per  acre. 
It  would,  even  now,  bring  200,  the  fatal  effects  of 
the  paper  system  having   been  almost  entirely 
averted  from  this  district,  either  by  the  prudence 
of  the  Bank  Directors,  or,  what  is  more  likely,  the 
inveterate  habits  of  the  German  farmers,  which 
did  not  readily  become  reconciled  to  a  flimsy  sub- 
stitute for  gold.    The  next  farm  consisted  of  twen- 
ty-five acres,  with  a  new  brick  house,  and  a  de- 
cent frame  barn,  which  together  would  cost  erect- 


U) 


ib- 

)n- 

e- 

Ict- 


I 


ing,  my  informant  thought,  more  than  4,000  dol- 
lars. A  gentleman,  whom  he  pointed  out  to  me, 
had  just  offered  7,000  dollars  for  the  whole,  which 
were  refused.  The  next  farm  was  one  of  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres,  with  out-buildi  igs,  but  in  high 
cultivation,  one-fifth  woodland,  it  had  been  sold 
the  preceding  week  at  140  dollars  per  acre.  In 
this  well  settled  country,  woodland  is  dearer  than 
cleared  land.  The  next  was  a  large  estate,  which 
a  German  had  just  sold  to  his  sons  at  105  dollars 
per  acre,  that  they  might  give  their  sisters  as  a 
marriage  portion  their  equal  share,  as  is  usual  with 
them.  The  sons-in-law  thought  the  sale  too  low. 
All  these  estates  are  within  fifty  miles  of  Balti- 
more, which  the  farmers  consider  their  market, 
and  speak  of  as  very  near. 

Ten  miles  from  York  we  passed  the  beautiful 
and  classical  Susquehanna,  on  a  fine  bridge,  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  broad  ;  but  the  night  was  clos- 
ing in,  and  the  clouds,  which  obscured  the  moon, 
prevented  our  seeing  the  scenery  of  this  noble 
river  distinctly.    We  had  been  frequently  gratified 
during  the  day,  by  the  view  of  a  distiiict  chain  of 
the  Blue  Mountains  in  the  horizon.     We  reached 
Lancaster,  a  fine  old  town,  (all  things  are  by  com- 
parison,) at  nine  o'clock,  having  been  eighteen 
hours  in  completing  the  seventy  miles  from  Balti- 
more.    We  left  Lancaster  at  four  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  and  proceeded  in  the  dark  fourteen  miles 
to  breakfast.     To  my  great   mortification,  it  was 
so  cloudy  and  misty  during  a  great  part  of  the  day, 
that  my  view  was  circumscribed.     We  still  con- 
tinued, however,  to  see  handsome  barns,  substan- 


ftm 


Hi 


!!l! 

'h 


I 


'*- 


ft'' 


tiaJ  houses,  and  beautifully  cultivated  fields.  From 
the  Jime  we  left  Lancaster,  we  were  on  the  great 
Pittsburgh  road,  which  leads  us  to  Philadelphia, 
through  the  "Great  Valley,"  as  it  is  called ;  the 
land  is  for  the  most  part  excellent,  yielding  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  bushels  of  wheat,  and  thirty 
to  forty  of  Indian  corn,  to  the  acre.  The  farmers 
in  the  county  of  Lancaster,  uidike  those  of  York, 
are,  I  was  told,  deeply  in  debt;  the  treacherous 
paper  system  having  been  incautiously  admitted. 

The  country  through  which  we  passed  during 
the  day's  ride,  as  far  as  we  could  see  on  each  side 
of  the  road,  (the  fog  contracting  our  view  within 
narrow  limits,)  might  be  compared  with  the  rich- 
est part  of  England,  reminding  me  sometimes  of 
Craven — sometimes  of  Warwickshire — sometimes 
of  Gloucestershire.  The  best  houses  and  barns  are 
of  stone,  the  largestbeing  generally  taverns;  and  the 
buildings  on  the  farms  (which  are  from  two  to  three 
or  five  hundred  acres  in  extent)  are  perhaps  from 
4,000  to  20,000  dollars  in  value.  There  were  few  (till 
we  reached  Philadelphia  scarcely  any)  that  could 
be  called  gentlemen's  houses,  or  which  give  one 
the  idea  of  being  in  the  vicinity  of  educated,  or 
well-bred  society.  One,  between  thirty  and  forty 
miles  from  Philadelphia,  exhibited  traces  of  taste 
and  elegance  in  the  front  of  the  house  and  gar- 
den :  the  out-buildings  seemed  complete  and  ex- 
tensive. My  companion  said,  the  whole  of  the 
buildings  might  cost,  with  the  house  furnished, 
7,000  dollars;  and  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  in 
high  cultivation,  in  the  vicinity,  .5,000  dollars  more. 
Now,  I  think,  with  good  management  on  the  farm. 


i: 


the 

ill 

pm. 


51  family  might  live  comlortably  with  18,000  dol- 
lars ill  addition;  not  with  less  than  that  sum,  nor 
with  so  little,  if  there  were  boardinoj-school  ex- 
penses to  pay,  or  any  charges  except  those  strict- 
ly domestic.     Now  let  us  suppose  that  Mr.  Birk- 
beck   had   settled  there  : — his  family,  except  as 
regards  society,  would  scarcely  have  been  con- 
scious that   they  were   transplanted :    he   would 
have  felt  at  home  in  a  cultivated  country,  instead 
of  a  novice  in  the  prairies,  and   his  agricultural 
skill  might  have  been  profitably  exerted  in  a  con- 
genial sphere:  30,000  dollars,  out  of  the  3.'»,000 
which  he  is  said  lo  have  brought  with  him,  would 
have  been  disposed  of  in  a  form  at  least  as  con- 
vertible as  at  present.     1  much  doubt  whether  his 
whole  property,  at  the  end  often  years,  including 
the  5,000  dollars  left  to  accumulate  with  com- 
pound interest,  would  not  have  been  of  more  va- 
lue than  it  will  now  prove,  and  have  commanded 
as  many  cultivated  and  uncleared  acres  in  Illinois, 
as  he  will  possess  at  the  expiration  of  that  pe»iod. 
If  he  should  not  be  benefited,  or  be  ordy  partially 
so,  by  the  remissions  of  price   proposed  by  the 
Government  to  be  afforded  to  purchasers  of  pub- 
lic lands,  (which  will  depend  on  the  state  of  his 
instalments.)  or  if  his  settlement  continue  unpop- 
idar,  he  may  actually  lose  by  his  lands,  the  reduc- 
tion from  one  and  a  quarter  to  two  dollars  by  the 
Government  for  vacant  lands,  of  course  reducing 
the  value  of  those  he  has  entered.    This,  however, 
is  a  speculation  for  which  I  have  no  sufficient  da- 
ta;  but  1  was  led  to  think  a  little  on  the  subject 
on  passing  these  fine  Pennsylvania  farms,     ft  ap- 


•  r.^4fr^* 


in 


'  .t 


pears  to  me  that  the  *'  aliquid  immeiiHUin  intini- 
tumque,"  which  played  round  the  youthful  imagi- 
nation of  Cicero,  and  conducted  that  celebrated 
orator  into  regions  of  truth  and  beauty,  had  taken 
possession  of  the  mind  of  Mr.  Birkbeck,  and  led 
him,  less  courteously,  into  the  prairies  of  Illinois, 
where  I  have  no  doubt  it  has  long  since  vanished, 
like  an  ignis  fatuus,  leaving  the  agriculturalist  not 
a  little  mortified  Jit  having  been  beguiled  by  an  in- 
sidious phantom,  which  beckoned  him  to  fame  and 
fortune  in  the  Western  wilds. 

We  reached  Philadelphia,  60  miles  from  Lan- 
caster, at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  found 
our  party  at  the  boarding  house  increased  by  the 
arrival  of  a  gentleman  and  lady  and  three  daugh- 
ters from  Lexington,  Kentucky,  who  having  hasti- 
ly left  a  comfortuble  estate  in  the  vicinity  of  Lon- 
don, had  become  tired  of  the  Western  wilderness, 
and  had  returned  to  the  Atlantic  States,  beginning 
to  think  that,  to  persons  in  their  easy  circumstances  at 
least,  there  was  no  phce  like  old  England  after  all. 


LETTER  VI. 

JVew-York,  Feb.  IBt'l. 

A  LONGKR  rei^iJence  in  the  principalities  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  more  intimate  acquaintance 
with  their  inhabitants,  have  given  me  a  better  op- 
portunity than  I  had  previously  enjoyed,  of  form- 
ing the  estimate  you  request  from  me  of  the  pre- 
sent state  of  religion  and  morals  on  tliis  side  of  th(^ 


1 


49 


Atlantic.  Vou  must,  however,  make  great  altow« 
ance  for  errors  in  so  difficult  and  delicate  an  uo- 
dertaking,  and  will  receive  with  peculiar  caution, 
on  such  a  subject,  any  general  conclusions  de- 
duced from  the  observations  of  an  individual  tra- 
veller. You  may,  however,  consider  the  favoura- 
ble representations  which  I  made,  in  a  letter  from 
Boston  last  autumn,  with  respect  to  opportunities 
of  public  worship,  and  the  prevalence  of  evangel- 
ical preaching,  as  applicable  to  all  the  principal 
towns  and  cities  from  Portland  to  Savannah. 

But  churches  are  not  religion ;  nor  are  the  mi- 
nistrations of  a  pastor  an  unerring  criterion  of  the 
piety  of  his  hearers.  In  a  country,  however,  in 
which  contributions  to  places  of  public  worship 
are  for  the  most  part  voluntary,  a  liberal  dissemi- 
nation of  sacred  edifices  is  a  very  favourable  symp- 
tom ;  while  the  number  of  faithful  ministers,  and 
the  frequent  occurrence  of  large  congregations 
listening  attentively  to  unwelcome  truths  from 
pastors  appoirited  by  their  own  election,  and  de- 
pendent on  them  for  support,  afford  something 
more  than  a  va;^ue  presumption  of  the  existence 
of  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  vital  piety  in  the 
community. 

My  favourable  impressions  were  strengthened 
as  I  proceeded,  by  noticing  the  attention  generally 
paid  on  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the  external  obser- 
vance of  the  Sabbath;  by  meeting  continually  with 
Bibles,  and  other  religious  books,  in  the  steam- 
boats and  houses  of  entertainment ;  and  by  wit* 
nessing  the  efforts  every  where  apparent  for  the 
extension  of  Christian  piety. 

7" 


.00 


1! 


Theological  institutions  for  tlic  education  ot  mi- 
nisters, extensive,  well-endowed,  and  respectable, 
frequently  arrest  the  attention  of  the  traveller  as 
he  passes  along  the  road ;  while  a  very  little  in- 
tercourse with  society  convinces  him  that  associa- 
tions of  a  more  private  nature,  for  preparing  indi- 
gent young  men  for  missionary  services,  together 
with  Bible  Societies,  Missionary  Societies,  and 
Sunday  School  and  Tract  Societies,  are  liberally 
scattered. 

I  felt  neither  disposed  nor  called  upon  to  de- 
prive myself  of  the  pleasure  I  derived  from  these 
favourable  indications,  by  reflecting  that  they 
were  no  accurate  measure  of  the  degree  in  which 
personal  religion  prevails.  I  was  quite  aware  that, 
in  many  cases,  and  especially  where  there  is  no 
establishment,  churches  are  sometimes  multiplied 
by  the  very  dissentions  of  a  congregation  ;  ihat  a 
proportion  of  the  active  effort  engaged  in  the  pro- 
motion of  religious  objects,  is  often  very  little  con- 
nected with  Christian  principle  ;  and  tliat  respect 
for  the  form  of  godliness  may  survive  its  power. 
But  at  the  same  time  I  felt  persuaded  that,  al- 
though a  love  of  popularity  may  enrol  thf?  worldly 
in  the  list  of  contributors  to  religious  societies,  or 
engage  them  as  public  advocates  in  a  sacred 
cause,  still  that  diligei't  performance  of  the  rou- 
tine of  official  duties,  and  those  self-denying  and 
persevering  efforts,  to  which  religious  societies 
are  usually  indebted  both  for  their  origin  and 
prosperity,  imply,  in  most  cases,  the  existence 
of  a  higher  principle,  and  spring  from  a  purer 
source. 


dl 


My  subsequent  experience  lias  convinced  me 
that  I  was  not  incorrect  in  the  persuasion  in  which 
I  indulged  myself  as  I  passed  alotig,  that  I  was  al- 
ways in  the  vicinity  of  some  at  least  who  were 
united  in  Christian  sympathy  with  the  whole 
church  militant  on  earth,  ami  were  travelling  to  a 
better  country  amidiit  the  hopes  and  fears,  the 
trials  and  consolations,  which  chequer  the  lot  and 
form  the  character  of  the  Christian  in  every  quar- 
ter of  the  globe.  Dmetimes,  in  the  course  of  my 
route,  some  little  incident  would  give  peculiar 
force  to  this  persuasion,  or  the  surrounding  sce- 
nery impart  to  it  a  particular  interest. 

On  my  return  from  Canada  through  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire,  I  visited  the  Theological 
Institution  at  Andover;  where  the  handsome  col- 
legiate edifice,  the  spacious  grounds,  the  houses 
of  the  professors,  and  the  excellent  inn  in  some 
degree  attached  to  the  establishment,  bore  as  am. 
pie  testimony  to  the  muinficence,  as  the  object  of 
the  institution  to  the  piety,  of  its  founders.  It  is 
from  this  establishment  that  the  American  Board 
of  Missions  has  drawn  nearly  all  its  labourers. 
After  tea  we  adjourned  to  the  college  chapel, 
where  religious  intelligence  fron.  various  parts  of 
the  United  States  was  communicated  by  the  stu- 
dents or  professors.  We  had  then  prayers,  after 
which  we  separated.  It  was  a  beautiful  star-light 
night  in  autumn ;  and  while  looking  out  of  mj 
window,  at  midnight,  on  this  quiet  scene — where 
many  who  were  then  labouring  in  distant  regions 
of  the  globe  first  felt  those  ardent  aspirings  after 
extensive  future  usefulness,  which  prompted  them 


If 


/ 


;   A 


52 


to  encounter  the  trials  of  a  missionary  lite,  and 
ivhere  many  were  then  preparing  for  the  same 
honourable  enterprise — I  could  not  but  contrast 
the  privileges  of  a  life  thus  early  and  entirely  de- 
dicated to  the  noblest  cause,  with  those  of  the 
most  successful  commercial  or  political  career, 
where  the  flame  of  piety,  if  not  extinguished  by 
the  very  atmosphere  which  surrounds  it,  is  expos- 
ed to  a  thousand  blasts  from  which  the  religious 
zeal  of  the  missionary  is  sheltered  by  his  peculiar 
situation. 

At  Hartford,  in  Connecticut,  in  a  church  so 
richly  adorned  with  "Christmas"  (either  winding 
round  the  pillars,  or  hung  in  fiestoons,)  as  to  ap- 
pear almost  like  a  grove,  I  was  gratified  by  a  ser- 
mon in  vindication  of  our  Liturgy ;  and  my  heart 
warmed  when  I  heard  the  minister  enumerate 
among  its  claims  to  the  affectionate  regards  of  the 
congregation,  "  the  opportunity  which  it  afforded 
them  of  worshipping  in  the  very  words  in  which 
saints  for  centuries  had  breathed  their  devoiions 
in  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  of  still  offering 
their  incense  in  the  same  censer  with  their  breth- 
ren in  Britain,  that  brightest  star  in  the  firma- 
ment of  the  Reformation." — In  the  afternoon  I  at- 
tended the  Presbyterian  chapel,  where  the  mini- 
ster announced,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  that  it 
was  the  wish  of  many  of  the  congregation  that  the 
following  Friday  should  be  set  apart  for  prayer 
and  fasting,  and  that  it  was  expected  it  should  be 
80  observed  by  the  members  of  the  church.  I 
felt  that  I  was  among  the  descendants  of  the  puri- 
tanic eiiKes,  (for  exiles  may  many  of  them  be  con- 


63 


sidercd  rather  than  emigrants;)  and  I  could  not 
but  breathe  a  wish  that  the  spirit  of  an  Elijah 
might  Hnger  in  the  land  which  still  preserved 
these  vestiges  of  more  devotional  times. 

At  Newhaven,  in  the  same  state,  after  visiting 

Yale  College, in  the  iiurary  of  which  I  was 

pleased  to  recognise,  under  the  titles  "  Berkeley," 
and  "The  Dean's  Bounty,"  substantial  proofs  of 
the  liberality  of  our  celebrated  countryman,  Bish- 
op Berkeley, — I  spent  the  evening  with  Dr.  Morse, 
whom  I  found  engaged  in  drawing  up  a  report  on 
the  state  of  the  Indians,  to  be  submitted  to  Con- 
gress. He  had  been  selected  by  the  President 
to  travel  among  the  Indians  with  reference  to  this 
object,  in  consequence  of  having  been  long  em- 
ployed by  a  society  in  Scotland  in  the  promotion 
of  their  benevolent  designs  among  some  of  the 
northern  tribes.  He  has  devoted  a  very  long  and 
very  active  life  to  the  interests  of  literature  and 
reHgion  in  his  infant  country,  combining  the  at- 
tainments of  a  scholar  with  the  apostolic  zeal 
of  a  missionary,  and  often  exchanging  domestic 
endearments  and  literary  ease  for  the  perils  of  the 
wilderness,  and  the  privations  of  solitary  journeys 
in  swamps  and  forests.  When  Mr.  Hall's  sermon 
on  Infidelity  appeared,  he  printed  an  edition  at 
his  own  expense,  although  in  very  moderate  cir- 
cumstances, and  has  since  endeavoured  to  intro- 
duce among  his  countrymen  a  high  standard  of 
practical  excellence,  by  exhibiting  to  their  view 
that  extraordinary  combination  of  the  lowly  and 
the  splendid  virtues  of  the  Christian  character 
which  adorned  the  life,  and  has  embalmed  the 
memory  of  the  late  Mr.  Reynolds  of  Bristol. 


^  ,(. 


ti'i 


'w?:j 


54 


At  Boston  I  had  the  pleasure  of  an  intervie\V 
with  the  late  venerable  Dr.  Worcester,  the  secre- 
tary  of  the  American  Missionary  Society,  and  re- 
ceived mucli  interesting  intelligence  from  the 
Missionary  Board,  and  its  excellent  treasurer. 
There  I  found  an  association  of  young  men,  who 
have  set  apart  a  portion  of  thei"*  income  for  the 
establishment  of  a  missionary  press  at  Jerusalem. 
There  also  I  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  Henry 
Martyn  in  an  American  dress,  going  forth  in  the 
character  of  a  departed  saint,  to  advance  in  the 
West  the  cause  in  which  he  himself  f^II  so  early 
and  lamented  a  sacrifice  in  the  East ;  to  fan,  in 
the  very  scenes  where  his  beloved  though  un- 
known Henry  Brainerd  had  laboured  and  ex- 
pired, the  missionary  zeal  which  that  eminent  man 
had  kindled;  and  to  animate  every  succeeding 
American  missioiiary  by  an  affecting  proof,  that  a 
ray  of  fervent  piety,  though  emanating  from  the 
solitudes  of  an  American  forest,  may  penetrate 
even  the  cloisters  of  Cambridge,  and  revive  a  faint- 
ing bosom  in  the  deserts  of  Persia  or  Hindostan. 

While  visiting  a  friend  in  New- York,  I  was  in- 
formed that  it  was  in  the  adjoining  room  that  the 
agents  of  the  African  Colonization  Society,  and 
their  supporters,  assembled  for  prayer  the  night 
previous  to  the  sailing  of  the  first  expedition,  of 
whose  melancholy  fate  we  had  just  received  the 
intelligence. 

In  Philadelphia,  the  Sunday  after  my  arrival,  I 
heard  our  excellent  Liturgy  for  the  first  time  on 
these  western  shores;  and  the  impression  it  was 
calculated  to  make  on  my  mind  was  deepened  by 


Oi> 


T 


s 


the  circumstance  of  its  being  sacrament  Sunday 
and  by  the  stillness  and  decorum  which  I  had 
never  witnessed  even  in  England  Here  I  was 
also  much  gratified  by  meeting  with  the  aged 
Bishop  VVhite,  one  of  the  bishops  who  went  over 
to  England  after  the  Revolution,  to  be  consecrat- 
ed,  in  order  that  episcopal  authority  might  be 
transmitted  to  the  latest  generations  of  America, 
through  the  legitimate  channel  in  which  it  had 
flowed  since  the  laying  on  of  Apostolic  hands.  Our 
excellent  Granville  Sharp,  and  liis  meritorious  ef- 
forts in  his  cause,  came  forcibly  to  my  recollec- 
tion. 

While  drinking  tea  with  a  friend  in  Baltimore, 
one  of  the  females  of  the  family  came  in,  who  I 
learnt  had  been  attending  an  adult  school  in  which 
there  were  180  Blacks.  She  told  me  there  were 
000  Blacks  in  the  Sunday  schools  in  the  city;  and 
that  they  had  lately  formed  themselves  into  a  Bi- 
ble Association,  and  been  received  into  connex- 
ion with  the  Baltimore  Bible  Society.  At  the 
same  place,  a  letter  was  shewn  to  me  just  re- 
ceived from  the  Black  person  on  whom  the  man- 
agement of  the  expedition  of  the  (Colonization  So- 
ciety devolved,  on  the  White  agents  falling  a  sa- 
crifice to  the  dreadful  mortality  with  which  the 
settlers  were  visited.  On  a  desert  shore,  depriv- 
ed by  death  of  the  White  conductors,  to  whom  he 
and  his  companions  looked  for  protection — de- 
pressed by  the  successive  deaths  of  his  Black 
friends,  and  harassed  by  the  delays,  irregularities, 
and  suspicious  conduct  of  the  native  chiefs — he 
writes  in  a  strain  of  fortitude  and  piety,  deserving 


;} 


.ib 


feV 


of  imitation.  '•  But,  thank  God,"  lie  says,  •'  though 
cut  oflT  from  my  friends,  and  relations,  and  family, 
and  the  comforts  of  civilized  life,  our  people  drop- 
ping off* daily,  myself  labouring  under  great  bodi- 
ly weakness,  and  an  important  charge  lying  upon 
me,  I  can  truly  sfiy  that  I  rejoice  that  I  came  to 
Africa.  O  that  what  few  days  1  am  spared  in  this 
world,  it  may  be  to  do  good  !"  And  yet  this  per- 
son, I  was  told,  was  once  an  American  Slave. 

At  Washington,  I  attended  Divine  service  in  the 
House  of  Representatives ;  a  magnificent  hall  in 
the  capital,  which  is  always  appropriated  to  this 
purpose  on  Sundays.  The  sermon  was  an  impres- 
sive one,  from  the  words,  "  The  glorious  Gospel 
of  Christ;"  and  you  will  readily  believe,  that  the 
promulgation  of  this  Gospel  in  the  capital  of  this 
vast  continent,  in  the  new  chamber  of  its  Legisla- 
ture, under  the  fostering  care  of  its  popular  Gov- 
ernment, was  well  calculated  to  excite  the  most 
interesting  reflections.  The  scene  reminded  me 
of  the  period  when  "  they  shall  come  from  the 
east,  and  from  the  west,  and  from  the  north,  and 
from  the  south,  and  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom 
of  God ;"  and  when  I  recollected  how  long  the 
Star  had  appeared  in  the  East,  before  it  shed  its 
radiance  on  the  darkness  of  these  Western  shores, 
— whose  very  existence  a  few  centuries  since  was 
unsuspected,  and  which  had  long  been  abandon- 
ed to  Indian  superstitiotis,  which  had  only  just 
ceased  to  linger  in  the  primeval  forests  which 
surrounded  us,  and  on  the  banks  of  rivers  which 
yet  bear  their  Indian  names, — I  seemed  admitted 


I  ] 


m 


to  a  closer  view  of  that  mysterious  progression  by 
which  "  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and 
He  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  This  train  of 
thought,  the  place,  the  congregation,  the  sur- 
rounding scene,  conspired  to  give  a  peculiar  in- 
terest to  the  verses  with  which  the  service  was 
concluded. 

How  liappy  are  our  ears,"  he 

To  enter  fully  into  my  feelings,  you  must  recol- 
lect my  distance  from  the  scene  where  we  have 
usually  sung  tliese  words ;  and  that  when  I  hear 
of  the  East,  1  do  !iot  here  think  of  India  and  China 
only,  but  include  Europe  and  Africa,  and  with 
them  dear  England,  in  the  idea  which  is  present 
to  my  imagination.  On  my  return  to  my  inn,  I 
dined  in  company  with  my  friends  the  Indian 
Deputation  of  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  to  whom 
I  have  already  introduced  you.  In  the  afternoon, 
I  sat  in  the  seat  next  to  the  President's  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  where  we  had  an  excellent 
sequel  to  our  morning's  sermon,  from  the  words, 

How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  sal- 
vation .'*" 

When  visiting  General  Washington's  tomb,  in 
his  favourite  retreat  at  Mount  Vernon,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac,  ray  black  attendant  in- 
formed me,  that  the  domostirs, — about  thirty  1 
believe  in  number,  and  principally  slaves, — as- 
sembled morning  and  evening  for  family  worship, 
at  which  the  Hon.  Bushrod  Washington,  the  pre- 
sent occupier  of  Mount  Vernon,  and  a  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  presides.     Wlien  I  was  shown 

8 


t,i 


'  I 


4 


ill 


58 


into  the  Judge's  study,  Scott's  Bible  and  Dr. 
Dwight's  Theology  were  before  him,  as  ifjust  laid 
aside,  and  gave  rise  to  a  little  conversation.  In 
speaking  of  the  African  Colonization  Society,  of 
which  he  is  the  President,  he  remarked,  that  the 
most  interesting  light  in  which  he  regarded  it,  was 
as  an  instrument  for  the  conversion  of  the  Africans 
to  Christianity ;  that  he  conceived  this  would  ulti- 
mately be  accomplished  by  native  teachers ;  and 
that  the  Colonization  Society,  by  the  introduction 
into  Africa  of  social  arrangements  and  religious 
institutions,  was  calculated  to  raise  up  a  supply 
of  native  instructors,  and  thus  to  form  an  impor- 
tant link  in  that  chain  of  secondary  causes  which 
are  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

At  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina,  at  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  at  the  door  of  which  I  counted 
sever  leen  carriages,  1  had  the  gratification  of  see- 
ing some  slaves  receive  the  sacrament  at  the  same 
table  as  their  masters,  some  of  whom  were  of  the 
very  first  rank  of  Carolinian  planters. 

At  Augusta,  in  Georgia,  I  thought  with  much 
interest  on  the  late  excellent  Miss  Smelt,  whose 
Memoirs  I  had  read  in  England :  and  although  I 
could  not  find  her  grave  in  the  church-yard,  it  was 
with  great  pleasure  that  1  passed  a  solitary  Sab- 
bath in  this  foreign  land  amid  the  scenes  where 
her  early  piety  was  cherished  and  matured. 

The  following  Sunday,  in  a  remoter  part  of 
Georgia,  near  the  borders  of  the  Indian  Nation, 
my  feelings  were  still  more  strongly  excited.  I 
attended  a  Negro  conajregation  assembled  in  the 


.)'J 


woods,  to  hear  a  funeral  sermon  from  one  of  their 
own  number,  himself  a  slave.  It  consisted  of  about 
200  slaves,  sitting  on  little  planks  under  a  large 
elm-tree;  and  1  foufid  I  was  the  onlj  White  per- 
son, and  the  only  freeman,  in  the  assembly.  The 
preacher  first  gave  a  sort  of  general  address,  ex- 
plaining the  occasion  of  the  meeting.  We  then 
had  prayer ;  then  sung  the  hymn, 

"  Why  do  we  mourn  departed  friends  ?" 

and  then  had  a  sermon  from  the  text,  "  The  Lord 
is  a  sun  and  shield;"  a  text  which  the  preacher 
assured  them  was  somewhere  in  the  Bible,  al- 
though "  he  could  not  undertake  to  tell  them 
where."  It  was  with  mingled  emotions  that  I  be- 
held these  degraded  fellow-creatures,  after  draw- 
ing  near  to  the  Throne  of  the  Creator  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  Mercy  Seat  of  our  common  Father, 
disperse  to  their  several  plantations,  to  resume  on 
the  morrow  their  extorted  labours,  and  to  smart 
under  the  lash  of  a  fellow-mortal. 

Even  in  that  land  of  darkness,  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  in  Mobile,  until  lately  a  nest  of 
pirates,  and  still  without  a  Protestant  place  of 
worship,  I  found,  to  my  surprise,  "  The  Dairy- 
man's Daughter,"  and  '■  Little  Jane,"  in  a  book- 
seller's shop.  In  tlie  seclusion  of  the  forests  of 
the  Mississippi,  I  have  seen  a  solitary  planter 
take  down  a  number  of  Dr.  Clarke's  Bible,  and  in- 
quire, with  great  interest,  if  I  could  tell  him  any 
particulars  of  so  good  a  man :  his  wife  listening 
attentively,  and  pronouncing  a  eulogium  which 
would  have  made  the  Doctor  blush. 

I  have  attended  divine  service  at  the  confluence 


I 


60 


ol'two  beautiiUi  rivers  in  East  Tennessee,  wliert 
the  congregation  was  so  numerous  that  we  were 
compelled  to  adjourn  from  the  meeting-house  in- 
to the  adjoining  woods,  where  tables  were  laid 
under  the  trees  for  communicants,  who  were  flock- 
ing from  miles  in  every  direction,  as  in  Scotlandf 
and  to  whom  the  sacred  ordinance  was  adminis- 
tered by  four  clergymen,  of  serious  deportment, 
and  apparently  of  respectable  acquirements  and 
fervent  zeal.  At  the  foot  of  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains, where  I  slept  in  a  little  log-hut,  kept  by  a 
poor  old  woman  and  her  only  son,  our  hostess 
gladly  availed  herself  of  the  accidental  presence 
of  a  young  minister,  in  his  way  to  Brainerd,  to 
have  family  prayer  and  reading  :  and,  in  a  large 
popular  inn  in  Virginia,  I  was  asked  whether  I 
would  like  to  retire  to  the  private  apartments  of 
the  family,  who  assembled  morning  and  evening 
at  the  domestic  altar. 

But  it  was  at  the  missionary  settlements  at 
Brainerd  and  Yaloo  Busha,  that  my  feelings  were 
most  strongly  excited.  Never  shall  I  forget  my 
sensations  the  two  nights  I  passed  in  Mr.  Kings- 
bury's little  room,  which  was  kindly  and  courte- 
ously assigned  to  me  during  my  stay.  A  log- 
cabin,  detached  from  the  other  wooden  buildings, 
in  the  middle  of  a  boundless  forest,  in  an  Indian 
country,  consecrated,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  ex- 
pression, by  standing  on  missionary  ground,  and 
by  forming  at  once  the  dormitory  and  the  sanctu- 
ary of  a  "man  of  God;"  it  seemed  to  be  indeed 
the  prophet's  chamber,  with  "  the  bed  and  the 
table,  and  the  stool  and  llio  candlestick.*'     It  con- 


61 


lained,  also,  a  little  hook-case,  with  a  valnahle 
selection  of  pious  books,  periodical,  biographical, 
and  devotional ;  among  which  I  found  many  an  old 
acquaintance  in  this  foreign  land,  and  which  ena- 
ble Mr.  Kingsbury,  in  his  few  moments  of  h  isure, 
to  converse  with  many,  who  have  long  since  join- 
ed the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  or  to  sym- 
pathize with  his  fellow  labourers  in  Otaheite. 
Africa,  or  Hindoostan. 

Mr.  Kingsbury  spent  a  great  part  of  the  second 
night  in  my  room,  inquiring  with  great  interest, 
about  England,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  with 
respect  to  which  his  intelligence  had  been  very 
scanty  since  his  seclusion  among  the  Indians. 
About  midnight,  we  became  thirsty  with  talking 
so  much ;  and  Mr.  Kingsbury  proposed  that  we 
should  walk  to  the  spring  at  a  little  distance. 
The  night  was  beautifully  serene  after  the  heavy 
showers  of  the  preceding  evening,  and  the  cool- 
ness of  the  air,  the  fresh  fragrance  of  the  trees, 
the  deep  stillness  of  the  midnight  hour,  and  the 
soft  light  which  an  unclouded  moon  shed  on  the 
log-cabins  of  the  missionaries,  contrasted  with 
the  dark  shadows  of  the  surrounding  forest,  im- 
pressed me  with  feelings  which  I  never  can  forget. 
We  looked  cautiously  around  us,  lest  we  should 
be  surprised  by  wild  beasts;  and  Mr.  Kingsbury 
stopped  to  point  out  to  me  a  plant,  which,  if  swal- 
lowed immediately  after  the  attack  of  a  rattle- 
snake, proves  an  effectual  antidote  to  the  poison. 
He  said  that  he  never  stirred  from  home,  without 
some  of  it  in  his  viaistcoat  pocket :  and  that  in  the 
Slate  of  Mississippi,  it  was  commonly  carried  by 


i 


;'^i 


;^i 


62 


1  *, 


all  ptM'soiis  who  traversed  llic  forest.  I  could  not 
help  regarding  this  as  a  fresh  illustration  of  that 
providential  kindness  which  so  frequetitly  ordains 
the  proximity  of  the  bane  and  antidote. 

The  preceding  particulars  will  convince  you 
that  some  indications  of  genuine,  iniluential,  reli- 
gious principle  occur,  even  to  the  rapid  traveller 
in  almost  every  part  of  the  United  States.  During 
my  residence  in  Boston,  New-Vork,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  Charleston,  I  have  seen  that  there 
is  in  each  of  them  an  extensive  society  of  exem- 
plary christians ;  and  1  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
forming  an  acquaintance  with  many  whose  virtues 
I  would  gladly  emulate,  and  whose  characters  arc 
an  ornamefit  to  their  profession. 

But  you  will  wish  to  know  in  what  degree  vital 
piety  prevails  in  the  community  ;  and  I  regret  that 
I  cannot  tell  you  more  explicitly  ;  the  subject  docs 
not  admit  of  precision.  The  extent  in  wiiich  re- 
ligion prevails  here  is  known  only  to  the  Searcher 
of  hearts;  but  there  is  the  strongest  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  it  is  very  considerable.  Indeed  I  am 
disposed  to  think,  that  a  cursory  traveller  visiting 
England  and  America,  without  prejudice,  and  wilh 
equal  opportunities  of  observation,  would  draw  a 
more  favourable  inference,  with  respect  to  the 
state  of  religion  in  the  jithintic  cities  of  the  latter, 
than  in  the  towns  or  cities  of  the  former.  Whe- 
ther a  long  residence  in  the  respective  places, 
would  not  lead  to  some  change  in  his  opinions,  or 
at  least  hold  thom  in  suspense,  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
decide;  but  I  believe  it  would. 


ti;; 


1  coiiHne  my  supposition  to  the  Atlantic  cities, 
hccause  tlie  beiiiglited  shores  ofthe  (jlulf  of  Mex- 
ico, and  many  portions  of" the  western  wilds,  pos- 
sess tow  teatures  in  common   with  our  favoured 
country, and  should  rather  be  compared  with  our 
colonial  possessions  in  the  East  or  West  Indies; — 
indeed  I  might  include  extensive  districts  in  the 
back  parts  of  many  ofthe  Atlantic  States,  where 
populatioti  is  thiidy  scattered,  and  opportmiities 
of  public  worship  occur  only  once  or  twice  a 
month.     In  some  of  these,  I  thought  I   observed 
great  coldness  in   religious  concerns;  the   unfre- 
fpiency  of  public  ordinances  rendering  the  inhab- 
itants  rather  less  willing  than   more  so   to  avail 
themselves  of  them   when  ottered.     I   felt  more 
disappointed  in  such  districts,  than  in  the  frontier 
settlemerjts.     In  the  latter  some  spiritual  as  well 
as  temporal  privations  are  naturally  to  be  expect- 
ed ;  though  I   thought  their  inhabitants  exhibited 
much  greater  solicitude  for  schools  and  churches 
than  those  ofthe  former.    In  fact,  the  new  settlers 
from  the  Atlantic  States  have,  in  many  cases,  par- 
ticipated in  the  advantages  of  that  general  revival 
of  religion  which  promises  to  be  the  characteris- 
tic of  modern  times ;  and   before  their  zeal  has 
had  time  to  cool  in  solitude  and  separation,  it  has 
often  secured  a  provision  for  those  religious  ordi- 
nances by  which  it  may  be  cherished  and  sustain- 
ed.    But  the  back  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia were  settled  in  less  auspicious  days  ;  and  we 
must  not  be  surprised  if  the  flame  of  piety,  burn- 
ing less  brightly  at  that  time  even  on  the  coast, 
should  grow  pale  and  sickly  when  removed  into 


;;;i 


if 

1l 


64 


an  atmosphrro  which  ministrrcd  littlo  to  its  sup- 
port. 

Generally  speakins;,  it  has  appeared  tome,  that 
the  style  ofpre.ichinj;  in  this  country  is  more  Cal- 
vinistic!  than  with  us,  anil  ihat  there  is  also  less 
oppositiorj  to  the  peculiar  doctrines  ofthe'Gospel 
among  men  of  the  world.  It  is  owing  partly  to 
this  circumstance,  that  i\w  profession  of  religion  in- 
volves less  of  that  mitigated  persecution  of  mo- 
dern days,  which  a  decided  Christian  must  often 
encounter  with  us  in  the  regrets  or  reraonstrunces 
of  opposing  friends,  or  the  ridicule  or  distance 
of  sneering  companions.  A  religious  profession 
might,  therefore,  be  supposed  to  be  more  com- 
mon ;  and  perhaps  may  be  rather  so,  though  this 
has  hardly  struck  me. 

Whatever  may  be  the  actual  state  of  religion  in 
this  country,  [  am  quite  satisfied  that  it  is  on  the 
advance.  There  may  be  local  exceptions  ;  but 
my  inquiries  and  observations  in  every  part  of  my 
route  have  led  me  to  a  confident  conclusion  as  to 
the  general  fact.  Many  of  the  societies  for  the 
promotion  of  religion  are  of  recent  origin;  but 
they  are  gradually  diffusing  themselves  over  the 
Union,  and  the  sympathy  which  was  first  kindled 
by  commiseration  for  the  Otaheitan  or  Hindoo, 
instead  of  being  exhausted  on  distant  objects, 
seems  to  derive  fervour  from  its  very  expansion, 
and  is  now  visiting  the  hut  of  the  Aborigines,  the 
log-cabin  of  the  Back-woodman,  and  the  habita- 
tion of  the  careless  and  uninstructed  "  neighbour." 
In  New-Orleans,  in  March,  1815,  there  was  not  a 
Bible  to  be  found,  either  for  sale,  or  to  be  given 


(i!i 


away;  aiid  the  only  fVoleslanl  place  ol"  wui'Hlii{» 
wad  ill  an  upper  roum  belungini;  to  an  individual. 
Now,  a  LouiHianian  Bible  Society  is  in  re^ulal• 
operation,  and  the  inhabitants  have  a  handsome 
Episcopalian  and  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Sab- 
bath is  still  dreadfully  and  generally  profaned 
there ;  but  it  is  religiously  observed  by  many,  the 
influence  of  whose  example  is  daily  extending. 
At  the  boarding  liouse  where  I  lodged,  were  se- 
veral naval  and  military,  as  well  as  mercantile 
gentlemen ;  and  I  remember  an  officer  who  had 
been  drilhng  his  rifle  corps  one  Sunday,  remark- 
ing on  the  strong  representations  which  the  Pres- 
byterians had  been  making  to  him  on  the  subject. 
He  defended  the  practice  by  those  arguments  ul" 
expediency  which  have  been  worn  thread-bare 
by  the  commanders  of  our  volunteer  corps.  A 
{ew  years  since,  no  remonstrance  would  have 
been  hazarded ;  or  if  hazarded,  the  summary  ar- 
gument of  a  pistol  would  probably  have  silenced 
the  interference. 

Unhappily,  however,  while  religion  is  extend- 
ing its  boundaries  in  the  United  States,  Unitarian- 
ism  is  but  too  successfully  urging  what  we  con- 
sider its  conflicting  claims  ;  but  this,  and  the  state 
of  morals,  must  form  the  subject  of  another  letter. 
This  letter  is  already  sadly  too  long. 

9 


I  j 


t  _ 
^  I 


'^1 


()«> 


LETTER  VIII. 


I 


Salem,  '2-llk  Feb.  18«1. 

I.N  rny  lust,  after  giving  you,  I  think,  what  you 
would  consider  an  encouraging  picture  of  the  pre- 
sent state,  and  still  more  so  of  the  future  prospects, 
of  religion  in  this  country,  I  expressed  my  regret 
that  Unitarianism  had  acquired  so  much  influ- 
ence, and  promised  to  say  more  on  the  subject  in 
my  next.  From  all  I  can  learn,  it  appears  that 
Unitarian  opinions  have  been  entertained  in  New- 
England  for  fifty  years  at  least,  and  perhaps  rriucli 
longer.  Generally  speaking,  however,  they  were 
not  very  openly  avowed,  till  much  more  recently ; 
some  of  those  who  held  them  concealing  their  sen- 
timents because  they  were  unpopular, — others  he- 
cause  they  felt  indiflTerent  about  them, — and 
others,  mcie  reflecting  and  philosophical,  because 
they  conceived  that  their  extension  would  be  most 
effectually  promoted  at  that  particular  time  by 
reserve  and  caution.  The  first  Uniiorian  congre- 
gation formed  in  America,  was  established  in  the 
King's  Chapel  soon  after  the  Revolution.  Thie 
was  the  chapel  in  which  the  Governor  worship- 
ped ;  but  becoming  afterwards  private  property, 
and  the  majority  changing  their  sentiments,  they 
expunged  from  the  church  prayers  all  allusion  to 
Trinitarian  doctrines,  and  openly  denounced  the 
Trinity.  The  minority  of  course  retired.  In  1792 
a  Unitarian  <'oiigregation  was  formed  in  Portland. 
ill  tlic  dcbtrict  of  Maine:  and  another  at  Saco.  a 


<l/ 


•imall  town  Iwonty  inilcs  lurtlier  (o  llu;  south,  liolh 
I  hese  congregations  soon  expired ;  but  I  regretted  to 
lind,  wlien  at  Portland  last  Sunday,  that  another 
congregation  was  established  there,  and  that  the 
legislature  of  the  newly  elected  State  of  Maine, 
who  were  then  sitting,  were  debating  on  a  bill 
wt»ich  would  have  a  tendency,  (if  indeed  it  were 
not  one  of  its  immediate  objects,)  to  favour  the  ex- 
tension of  Unitarian  sentiments.  The  sermon  of 
the  minister  of  the  Episcopal  church  which  I  at- 
tended, was  on  the  duty  of  contending  for  the 
*'  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  had  a 
specific  reference  to  this  bill.  As  Unitarian  sen- 
timents became  more  general,  they  were  gradual- 
ly avowed  with  less  reserve ;  yet  the  pulpits  of 
many  ministers  who  were  supposed  to  have  im- 
bibed them,  gave  no  evidence  of  the  fact,  except 
that  of  omissions.  This  at  length  brought  upon 
them  the  charge  of  insincerity  from  their  more  or- 
thodox brethren.  The  imputation  was  repelled 
with  warmth ;  and  the  public  were  left  in  great 
doubt  as  to  the  precise  sentiments  of  many  of 
their  pastors.  Dr.  Morse,  who  had  been  the  most 
prominent  of  those  who  publicly  manifested  their 
regret  at  the  defection  of  their  brethren  from  the 
common  faith,  was  accused  of  misrepresentation  ; 
and  the  most  candid  felt  it  almost  impossible  to 
arrive  at  the  real  state  of  things.  At  this  time, 
l.)r.  Morse  happened  to  meet  with  Mr.  Belsham's 
Life  of  Lindsay,  in  which  he  found  his  own  re- 
presentations borne  out  by  letters  and  documents 
transmitted  from  Boston  by  the  Unitarians  1  hem- 
selves.     These  he  strung  together  in  the  lonn  of 


I 


\ 

4 


II 


68 


i 


i 


I'' 


i^ 


a  pamphlet,  under  the  title  of  "  American  Unita- 
rianism ;  or  a  brief'  History  of  the  Progress  and 
present  state  of  the  Unitarian  Churches  in  Ameri- 
ca ;  compiled  from  Documents  and    Information 
communicated  by  the  Rev.  James  Freeman,  D.  D. 
and  William  Wells,  jun.  Esq.  of  Boston,  and  from 
other  Unitarian  Gentlemen  in  this  Country.     By 
the  Rev.  T.  Belsham,  Essex  Street,  London.    Ex- 
tracted from,  &c.  &c."  This  pamphlet  was  eager- 
ly read,  and  produced  a  great  sensation.     It  dis- 
closed   the  actual  elate  of  things,  brought   the 
question  to  issue,  and   ranged   in  opposite  ranks 
those  advocates  of  conflicting  sentiments  who  had 
hitherto  been  confusedly  intermingled.     A  paper 
■controversy  has  since  been  carried  on  at  inter- 
vals, as  particular  circumstances  or  occasional  ex- 
ritement  prompted  ;  and  both  parties,  as  usual, 
claim  the  victory.     In  the  mean  time,  however, 
IJnitarianism  has  advanced ;    but  although  it  is 
painful  to  see  that  ii  prevails  to  a  considerable 
extent,  Dr.  Morse  assured  me  that  he  did  not  be- 
lieve it  was  gaining  ground  at  present.     If  the 
number  of  its  advocates  seems  to  have  augmented 
during  the  last  year  or  two,  he  was  disposed  to 
ascribe  the  apparent  increase  rather  to  a  more 
open   avowal  of  their  sentiments  by  many  who 
were  Unitarians  before,  than  to  a  more  general 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  Unitarianism.     Of  the 
present  numbers  of  the  Unitarians,  I  can  give  you 
no  idea.     There  are  comparatively  few,  except  in 
New-England  ;  and  very  few  there,  except  in  the 
towns  on  the  coast.     In   Boston,  I  believe  there 
seven  or  eight  conojrejjations   of  Iiiitarianiii 


arc 


69 


of  ditFerent  shades.    In  Baltimore  a  splendid  and 
costly   Unitarian   chapel    was  lately  completed; 
but  I  was  told  that  it  is  almost  entirely  mortgaged 
to  the  banks.     In  Philadelphia  there  is  a  small 
Unitarian  chapel.     In  New-York,  a  new  Unitari- 
an chapel,  or  what  the  orthodox  consider  as  such, 
was  opened,  while  I  was  there,  by  Mr.  Everett, 
the  Professor  of  Divinity  from  Cambridge,  (Mas- 
sachusetts.)    I  was  told   it  was  numerously   at- 
tended, as  Mr.  Everett  had  some  reputation,  but 
that  it  was  generally  rather  frowned  upon.     As. 
however,  those  whom  I  heard  speak  of  it,  were 
among  its  strongest  opponents,  I  know  not  how 
far  to  conclude   that   that   was     he  case.     The 
chapel  was  opened  on  a  week-day,  and  the  minister 
was  said  »iot  to  dwell  at  all  on  doctrinal  points — 
a  line  of  conduct  you  would  anticipate  from 'a  sa- 
gacious advocate  of  /»*  scheme. 

But  Boston  is  the  head  quarters  of  Unitarian- 
ism  ;  and  many   of  the   Unitarians  there  are  so 
amiable,    and   so   intelligent, — possess   so   much 
practical  kindness,  and  so  many  social  virtues, — 
as  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  favour  of  their 
opinions,  and  to  shame  many  a  narrow-minded,  in- 
dolent professor  of  a  purer  faith ; — a  faith  which  too 
many  of  us  are  apt  to  forget  it  is  our  duty  to  illm- 
frate,  as  well  as  to  maintain, — and  to  exhibit  not 
merely  as  a  dry  system  of  restraint  and  prohibi- 
tion, but  as  a  source  of  the  most  generous  incen- 
tives to  excellence  in  all  that  is  *'  lovely  and  of 
good  report." 

There  are  many  tliinijs  in  the  situation  of  the 
respectable  classes  of  society  in   Boston,  whicfi 


n 


01 


??»t 


■t 


i 


TO 

Ave  calculated  to  promote  the  extension  of  Unila- 
rianism.  In  the  first  place,  the  strong  traces 
which  still  remain  of  those  habits  of  onler  and 
morality  which  their  religious  forefathers  left  as 
a  rich  inheritance  to  the  population  of  New-Eng- 
land,— habits  intrinsically  vaiu;ible,  and  entitling 
the  possessors  to  esteem,  but  rather  apt  perhaps 
to  lull  asleep  any  suspicion  of  error  in  the  creed 
with  which  they  are  fojnd  connected.  2dly,  A 
consciousness  of  literary  superiority  to  the  rest  of 
the  Union;  an  undue  appreciation  oi' talent  in  the 
estimate  of  character;  and  an  association  adroit- 
ly established  between  liberality  and  Unitarian- 
ism — all  stre'igthened,  if  not  produced,  by  prox- 
imity to  the  r.iost  celebrated  university  in  the  Uni- 
ted States,  where  the  principal  professors  are 
Unitarians,  and  the  system,  though  ostensibly 
neutral,  is  Unitarian  also.  3dly,  A  state  of  world- 
ly ease  and  comfort,  in  which  the  necessity  of  re- 
ligious consolations  is  apt  to  be  less  strongly  felt, 
and  their  foundation  to  be  investigated  with  loss 
trembling  solicitude  than  under  poverty  and  af- 
lliction. 

I  am  not,  however,  without  hopes  that  the  ten- 
dency of  these  circumstances  will  be  fully  coun- 
teracted by  a  more  auspicious  influence  ;  I  mean, 
the  influence  of  the  warmer  piety,  the  more  evi- 
dent spiritual-mindedness,  the  more  obvious  in- 
terest in  religion,  which  characterize  many  who 
hold  the  opposite  sentiments,  and  which  give  to 
their  opinions  a  persuasive  air  of  sincerity  and 
truth.  In  fact,  so  naturally  does  a  high  degree  of 
rrligious  sensibility  appear  to  result  from  correct 


Tl 


H\n\  (iecp  views  ol   rc'li<5ioiis  tnilfi,   that  opinions, 
wliich  are  seldom  t'outul  in  connexion  v^itli  devo- 
tional fervour,  seem  to  want  one  very  important 
credential  of  their  authenticity.     Many  of  the  or- 
thodox to  whom  I  allude,  are  not  only  pious  but 
learned,  of  irreproachable  moral  character  and 
acknowledged   liberality,   and   are  engaged  in  a 
course  of  active  efforts  in  their  Master's  cause. 
Among  them  ar.e  to  be  foinid  all  the  most  strenu- 
ous supporters  of  the  Bible  Societies,  Missionary 
Societies,    and     Sunday    Schools.      Indeed,    the 
American  Missionary  Society,  you  are  aware,  had 
its  origin  in  this  part  of  the  country,  where  it  still 
maintains  its  head-quarters,  in  the  very  focus  of 
L'nitarianism.     All  this  is  the  more  important,  as 
New-England  is  the  "  OHicina  Gentium"  of  Ame- 
rica, and  is  destined  to  supply  much  of  the  popu- 
lalion^  and  impress  its  own  features  strongly   on 
the  character^  of  new  States. 

With  respect  to  the  ministers, — Mr.  Dvvight 
among  the  Congregationalists,  and  Dr.  Jarvis 
among  the  Episcopalians,  occupy  stations  of  pe- 
culiar importance,  and  seem  likely  to  effect  much. 
The  former  is  the  son  of  Dr.  Dwight,  the  late  e 


iri' 


m- 


inent  Professor  of  Yale  College,  and  is  apparently 
oi  respectable  talents  and  great  activity.  The 
latter  is  the  son  of  Bishop  .larvis:  and  I  am  dis- 
posed to  believe  the  mo'it  {(Mrned,  and,  as  n> 
spects  most  of  the  duties  olhis  responsible  office, 
the  most  accomplished,  Episcopal  clergyman  in 
America.  He  has  a  high  standing  in  society, 
possesses  great  personal  respectability,  and  wns 
appointed  some    months    since    to  the   new  and 


Ml 

If 


■T»> 


72 


It     " 

74 


lifiiulsoine  Kpiscopal  church  in  the  most  tushiun- 
able  part  of  Boston.  Many  of  the  most  respect- 
able inhabitants  of  Boston  have  joined  his  con- 
j^jregation — not  a  few  from  Unitarian  societies. — 
Many  famihes  are  divided  in  their  religious  sen- 
timents; some  of  the  members  attending  Episco- 
pal, others  the  Unitarian  churches. 

The  most  portentous  feature  in  the  history  of 
the  present  state  of  Unitarianisin  in  this  coun- 
try, is  the  strong  hold  it  has  obtained  in  Cam- 
bridge college,  near  Boston  ;  the  most  extensive, 
and,  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  the  most  respecta- 
ble college  in  the  Union ;  in  whicii  also  a  large 
proportion  of  the  most  iiiduential  persons  of  the 
nation  are  educated.  Many  parents  are  prevent- 
ed by  religious  considerations  from  sending  their 
chddren  thither;  but  I  wish  I  could  say  the  ob- 
jection was  more  general.  This,  and  perhaps 
Transylvania  university  at  I^exington,  are  hap- 
pily the  on\y  colleges  under  the  influence  of  Uni- 
tarian sentiments.  Yale  College,  Princeton,  Co- 
lumbia, and  all  the  others  that  I  am  acquainted 
with,  are  opposed  to  them;  and  Yale  College  has 
the  happiness  of  having  its  principal  professors 
men  of  decided  piety.  Bui  the  noble  Theologi- 
cal Institution  at  Andover,  liberally  endowed, 
formed  for  the  express  purpose  of  raising  up  able 
champions  to  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  at 
home,  and  accomplished  missionaries  to  dirtuse  il 
abroad,  blest  with  learned  and  pious  professors 
ardently  engaged  in  the  great  objects  of  their  in- 
stitution, presents  perhaps  the  most  cheering 
view.     'J'he  onlv  confident  assurance,  however,  of 


.1 


d 


73 

the  triumph  of  truth,  is  to  be  found  in  the  pro- 
mises of  Him  wlio  has  iiifallihiv  predicted  its  u  li- 
vprsal  reception. — I  am  gl  «d  I  have  done,  it  i-^  a 
painful  office  to  remark  oii  what  appear  to  be  the 
doctrinal  errors  of  others,  when  conscious  of  so 
many  practical  errors  of  our  own.  But  1  could 
not  refuse  your  request. 


I.ET'I  ER  IX. 

S(tle,n,  Febuary  26,   1821. 

h  my  letter  of  the  24th  I  had  no  room  to  ad- 
vert to  the  state  of  morals  and  manners  in  the 
United  States;  and  as  tlicse  were  among  the  to- 
pics on  which  you  requested  information,  I  aviil 
myself  of  a  little  leisure  to-night  to  comply  with 
your  wishes.  *  I  must,  however,  remind  you,  that 
I  do  not  pretetid  to  give  you  an  accurate  pi<  'ure 
of  American  morals,  (a  task  to  which  I  feel  ay- 
self  incompetent,  although  I  purposely  deferred 
writing  on  the  subject  till  on  the  very  eve  of  em- 
barking,) but  merely  to  send  you  the  observations 
of  a  solitary  traveller — the  impressions  I  have  re- 
ceived in  passing  rather  hastily  over  this  exten- 
sive country. 

If  I  were  writing  to  a  less  judicious  friend.  I 
would  also  remind  him  that  I  do  no*  feel  myself 
responsible  for  any  general  conclusions  he  mii;ht 
draw  from  particular  facts,  or  bound  to  reconcile 
the  discordant  inferences  he  might  deduce  fron 
my  statements.  I  am  ansvvorable  for  the  ficts 
Qnli^ ;  and  if  they  sometimes  leave  you  in  an  nii- 

W 


h 


V 


t 


i^ 


71 


satislactory  fstate  of  suspense,  IVoiii  which  you  are 
strongly  tempted  to  relieve  youraelf  by  jumping 
to  a  conclusion,  I  can  only  assure  you,  that  I  am 
often  in  the  same  pretlicament,  and  would  gladly 
relieve  us  both  by  some  bouncing  assertions,  it' I 
could  do  it  with  sincerity;  but  there  have  been 
AoM/jrr*  enough  on  the  subject  of  America  already. 
Tlie  state  of  morals  differs  so  much  in  different 
parts  of    America,   that  no    general   description 
would    be  applicable  to  the  whole.     Indeed,  one 
might  almost  as  well  attempt  to  include  in  any 
general  description  the  various  countries  of  Eu- 
rope as  the  United  States  of  America ;    for  al- 
though a  uniform  system  of  government  produces 
many  prominent  features  of  a  common  character 
in  all  the  members  of  this  great  confederation, 
yet  the  wide  range  of  climate  embraced  by  its  ex- 
tensive limits,  the  great  variety  of  habits,  objects, 
and  feelings,  and  especially  of  political  and  reli- 
gious sentiments,  which  prevailed  among  the  first 
settlers   of   the  ditf*erent   States,   the  diversified 
pursuits  and  occupations  of  the    present  inhabi- 
tants, the  admission  or  proscription  of  slavery, 
and  a  thousand  other  circumstances,  have  con- 
tributed to  establish  the  most  marked  distinctions, 
and  often  to  present  the  most  striking  contrasts, 
between  the  several  sections  of  the  Union.     All 
this  must  render  any  general  account  of  American 
morals  a  little  prolix  and  perplexed.     I  will  rely, 
therefore,   on    your   indulgence,   and    will   com- 
mence with  what  has  long    been   considered    a 
crying  sin  tin-oughout  the  Union — intemperance. 
The  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirits  is   indeed 
very  general.     Even  in  the   Eastern  States  it  it> 


75 


not  uncommon  ;  but  in  the  Middle,  and  still  more 
in  the  Southern  States,  it  prevails  to  a  lamentable 
extent.  Under  the  denominations  of  anti-fo^ma- 
tics,  mint  julep,  and  gin  sling,  copious  libations 
are  poured  out  on  the  altars  of  Bacchus,  by  vota- 
ries who  often  commence  their  sacri  'ces  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning,  and  renew  them  at 
intervals  during  the  day ;  and  yet  I  have  not  seen 
six  instances  of  brutal  intoxication  since  I  landed 
in  America, — nor,  except  among  the  poor  cor- 
rupted frontier  Indians,  twenty  cfises  in  which  I 
had  reason  to  believe  the  faculties  were  in  any 
degree  disordered.  The  decanters  of  brandy 
which  are  placed  on  the  dinner  tables  at  the  inns 
for  the  guests  to  help  themselves,  without  addi- 
tiotial  charge,  I  have  never  seen  used  but  with 
moderation ;  and,  on  the  whole,  I  would  say  de- 
cidedly that,  taking  America  generally  from  Maine 
to  Louisiana,  (you  know  that  I  have  seen  few  of 
the  Western  States,)  the  sin  of  drinking  to  ex- 
cess, prevails  less  extensively  there  than  in  En- 
;;land — that,  whatever  may  be  the  injury  to  the 
constitution  from  the  common  use  of  spirits  instead 
of  malt  liquor,  there  is  less  derangement  of  the 
faculties,  less  waste  of  time,  and  perhaps  of  mo- 
ney, and  far  less  misery  entailed  on  suffering  fa- 
milies from  intemperate  drinking  in  this  country 
than  in  our  own.  There  is,  indeed,  a  far  more 
dreadful  squandering  of  time  in  bar-rooms  in  ma- 
rjy  parts  of  America;  but  it  is  in  cigar-smoking, 
and  is  not  generally  attended  with  pinching  effects, 
or  a  deserted  wife,  or  hungry  children. 

Drams  are  taken,  as  it  were,  '•  en  passatit,"  so- 
litary. a!id  in  a  parenlhosis :  not  in  a  social  circle 


t,, 


^ 


70 


roiitul  a  blazing  fire,  where  I  at  this  luonient  see 
John  Bull  sitting  in  an  old  arm  chair,  a  thrce-leg- 
gpd  deal  table  before  him,  his  heart  expanding  as 
his  blood  warms,  one  hand  on  the  knee  of  his  next 
neighbour,  or  patting  him  on  the  back,  the  other 
pijihing  round  the  common  tankard,  the  bond  of 
good  fellowship,  which  after  a  few  more  circuits 
will  too  probably  convert  this  exhibition  of  rude 
enjoyment,  into  a  melancholy  scene  of  intoxica- 
tion, in  which  man  defaces  the  image  of  his  Maker, 
and  degrades   himself  to  a  level  with  the  brutes. 

In  the  higher  classes,  there  is  great  moderation 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  in  the  Eastern  and 
Middle  States  at  least :  and  as  far  as  my  experi- 
ence goes,  in  the  highest  circles  in  the  South,  lir 
Boston,  New-York,  and  Philadelphia,  even  parties 
seldom  dine  later  than  three  o'clock,  (there  are 
some  exceptions,)  and  they  usually  disperse,  after 
taking  two  or  three  glasses  of  wine.  What  may 
be  the  case  at  ihe  parties  of  dissipated  young  men, 
or  at  public  dinners  j  whether  there  is  a  Madeira 
gmge  for  Republicanism,  as  we  measure  loyalty 
by  Port,  I  do  not  know.  At  a  public  agricultu- 
ral dinner,  at  which  I  was  present,  where  there 
were  one  or  two  hundred  persons  in  the  compa- 
ny, there  was  the  greatest  order  and  moderation  : 
and  all  rose  to  return  home  in  about  an  hour  after 
diimer. 

With  regard  to  some  other  immoralities,  if  they 
exist  in  the  same  degree  as  with  us,  which  I  am 
disposed,  fiom  the  prevalence  of  early  marriages, 
to  question,  it  is  under  the  shade  of  secrecy  ;  tor 
the  cities,  except  New-Orleans,  present  nothing 
*)f  the  disguslHig  ertrontcry  and  unblushing  profli- 


77 


,»  « 


gucy  which  the  streets  of  our  large  towns  cxiiibil 
nCtrr  dark;  and  in  the  country,  as  you  nio}  have 
observed  in  ray  letters,  the  female  manoers  ore 
distinguished  by  a  very  reranrkable  degree  of  pro- 
priety. Indeed,  I  hardly  know  any  thing  which 
has  struck  me  more  in  America  than  the  respect- 
able demeanor  of  the  females  of  all  ranks  of  life, 
and  the  evident  attention  in  the  domestic  eco- 
nomy even  of  taverns  or  inns  to  exclude  them 
from  situations  in  which  they  might  be  exposed  to 
insult.  In  New-Orleans,  indeed,  the  picture  is  al- 
most totally  reversed.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  New-Orleans  is  still  in  many  res- 
pects rather  a  French  or  Spanish,  than  an  Ame- 
rican city,  and  that  it  is  improving  just  in  propor- 
tion as  it  becomes  American.  The  French  in- 
habitants have  still  an  ascendancy  in  the  councils 
of  the  city;  and  the  effect  is  no.less  conspicuous 
in  the  dirty  streets  and  tainted  air,  than  in  its  mo- 
ral pollution.  Before  long,  I  trust,  its  streets  will 
be  cleansed  by  conduits  from  llie  Mississippi,  for 
which  it  is  admirably  situated,  and  its  moral  at- 
mosphere purified  by  the  benign  iniluence  of  reli- 
gion, which  the  Christians  in  the  Eastern  States, 
with  their  accustomed  activity,  arc  exerting  them- 
selves to  extend. 

Pilfering,  house-breaking,  highway  robbery, 
and  murder,  are  far  less  common  here  than  with 
us  :  the  last  three,  indeed,  are  very  uncoujmon,  al- 
though I  have  heard  of  the  mail  being  robbed  al 
least  twice  since  I  have  been  here,  and  once  (in 
the  wild  parts  of  the  country,  where  it  is  carried 
on  a  horse.)  with  murder,  and  aggravated  circum- 


78 


tttanr^s  of  cruelty.  Duelling,  except  in  the  East- 
erii  States,  is  more  common,  and  more  deadly. 

The  bribery  of  subordinate  custom-house  offi- 
cers, so  disgracefully  common  in  England  (not  in- 
deed to  defraud  the  revenue,  but  to  obtain  des- 
patch) is  very  rare  here.  1  have  been  informed 
by  active  respectable  merchants  in  New-Vork. 
and  Philadelphia,  that  they  never  knew  an  in- 
stance, and  should  be  extremely  surprised  to  hear 
of  one;  that  in  the  only  case  in  which  they  had 
known  of  it  ever  being  offered,  the  olFicer  consid- 
ered himself  insulted,  and  knocked  the  offender 
down.  In  Boston,  I  omitted  to  inquire  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  but  in  point  of  morals  there  is  every  reason 
to  infer  that  it  stands  at  least  as  high  as  New-York 
and  Philadelphia. 

To  what  extent  smuggling,  slave-trading,  and 
privateering,  under  Spanish  colours,  are  carried 
on,  I  found  it  difficult  to  learn;  since  these  prac- 
tices, though  by  no  means  uncommon,  are  consid- 
ered as  disreputable  as  with  us,  and  shun  the 
light.  The  instances  of  breaches  of  trust  in  res- 
ponsible situations,  especially  in  banks,  of  which  I 
have  heard  in  the  last  twelve  months,  are  dis- 
gracefully numerous.  This  (  attribute  principal- 
ly to  the  wretched  system  of  the  insolvent  laws  in 
this  country,  and  the  laxity  of  morals  in  pecunia- 
ry matters  which  they  are  calculated  to  produce. 
For  the  particidars  of  this  system,  so  repugnant  to 
the  general  intelligence  and  morality  of  the  coun- 
try, I  refer  you  to  your  commercial  friends.  It  is 
a  perfect  anomaly,  and  Cannot  long  exist.  Indeed, 
the  Bankrupt  Bill  has  already  passed  the  Senate  ; 
and  although  other  business  may  interrupt  its  pro.- 


M 


79 


tl, 


i>.- 


gress  through  the  House  of  Representatives,  it  musl, 
in  some  form  or  another,  ere  long  become  a  law,  and 
supersede  a  system  over  which,  were  I  an  Ameri- 
can, I  should  never  cease  to  mourn,  deprecating  it 
as  calculated  to  injure  the  reputation  of  mj'  coun- 
try, and  to  depress  her  moral  tone. 

Lotteries  and  horse-racing  are  not  uncommon 
here  :  the  latter  is  most  prevalent  in  the  Southern 
States,  where  private  race-courses  are  frequent. 
Gambling,  in  the  Middle  States,  1  should  imagine 
from  all  I  saw,  is  about  as  common  as  in  England  : 
it  is  far  more  so  as  you  proceed  to  the  southward, 
and  dreadfully  prevalent  in  New-Orleans,  where 
a  license  to  authorize  gambling-houses  is  sold  ei« 
ther  by  the  city  or  the  state  authorites :  I  forgot  to 
inquire  which ;  though  in  the  one  case  it  would 
throw  the  blame  on  the  French, — in  the  other,  on 
the  Americans.  The  licenser  is  reported  to  real- 
ize a  large  income  from  this  iniquitous  traffic  ;  and 
the  Kentucky  boats,which  for  above  a  mile  line  the 
shores  of  the  Mississippi,  are  said  on  Sundays  to 
form  one  line  of  gambling-shops.  These,  with  the 
open  theatres,  the  dances  of  the  slaves  in  all  the 
environs  of  the  city,  and  the  week-day  work  which 
is  going  on  at  the  wharfs,  to  perhaps  one  third  of 
its  ordinary  extent,  present  a  Sunday-evening  pros- 
pect you  would  be  grieved  to  witness. 

Indelicate  and  profane  language  is  less  common 
in  the  Eastern  States  than  with  us,  perhaps  equal- 
ly prevalent  in  the  Middle,  and  far  more  so  in  the 
Southern  Atlantic  States,  but  it  is  prevalent  to  an 
awful  degree  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
These  indeed  are  emphatically,  in  a  moral  sense, 
Ihe  benighted  regions  of  Acnerica  :  and  yet  their 


I 


»' 


m 


natural  aspect  is  bright  and  beautiful.  Often, 
wheti  at  New-Orleans,  walking  out  at  sunrise,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  which  a  few  hours  be- 
fore had  been  parched  and  cracked  by  yester- 
day's meridian  fervour,  but  were  then  saturnt«»d 
with  the  heavy  dews,  which  at  that  season  fril 
nightly  like  showers  on  the  mown  grass,  I  hive 
thought  tliat  1  had  never  before  seen  so  much  to 
delip-ht  the  eye,  regale  the  senses,  or  kindle  the 
imagniation ; — orange  groves  with  their  golden 
fruit  and  fresh  green  leaves;  hundreds  of  cattle 
half  hid  in  the  deep  wet  clover,  which  grows  wild 
and  luxuriant  on  the  rich  alluvion ;  the  sugar  and 
cotton  plantations  on  the  opposite  bank ;  and  the 
forest  behind  them  stretching  to  the  boundless 
prairies  of  the  Attacapas  and  Opelousas  ; — above 
all,  the  noble  Mississippi  flowing  majestically  to 
the  sea,  and  carrying  the  imagination  thousands 
of  miles  up  its  current,  to  the  sources  of  some  of 
its  tributary  streams,  near  the  rocky  mountains. 
I  have  before  alluded  to  the  beauties  of  the  close 
of  day,  in  a  climate  so  delicious,  at  that  hour,  and 
the  succeding  ones,  when  the  vault  of  heaven  has 
a  deeper  blue  than  with  us,  when 

"  MiWiT  moons  disperse  ser^ner  licht, 
And  brtgtjter  beauties  decorate  th**  ni^ht." 

And  yet  when  I  think  of  the  moral  pollution  which 
pervades  New-Orleans,  and  the  yellow  (ever  which 
annually  depopulates  it,  or  of  the  intermittents 
and  slavery  which  infest  its  vicinities,  the  rocky 
shores  of  New-England  have  a  thousand  times 
more  charms  for  me.  There  I  see  on  every  side, 
a  hardy,  robust,    industrious  enterpriscng  popula- 


81 

tion;  better  (c(\,  better  clothetl,  better  etliicatcd 
than  I  ever  saw  before,  and  more  intelligent,  and 
at  least  as  moral  as  the  corresponding  classes  even 
of  our  own  countrymen.  Instead  of  a  succession 
of  slave  plantations,  whose  owners,  by  supplying 
them  wholesale,  prevent  the  existence  of  villages 
or  towns,  except  at  very  distant  intervals,  (the  2000 

slaves  of  one  slave-holder,  like  General , 

would  make  at  least,  one  respectable  village  of 
themselves,)  I  find  handsome  thriving  country 
towns,  on  every  side  ;  and  1  have  alrtady  told  you 
how  beautiful  a  New-Et»gland  town  is,  with  its 
white  frame-houses,  its  little  courts,  its  planted 
squares,  its  tine  wide  streets,  or  rather  avenues, 
and  most  especially  its  numerous  spires.  From 
one  spot  I  have  counted  more  than  twenty-five 
spires;  and  yet  I  have  been  asked,  in  England,  it 
there  were  any  churches,  or  places  of  worsjiip  in 
America  I 


LETTER  X. 

Philadelphia,  Oct.    181f). 

As  I  am  now  resting  a  little  after  my  wanderings. 
1  am  anxious  to  take  th*?  earliest  opportunity  ol" 
complying  with  your  wishes,  and  ofgiviiigyou  i\\r 
impressions  1  have  received  of  the  American  cha- 
racter in  the  course  of  my  route.  I  might  indeed 
have  done  this  at  an  earlier  period,  but  it  would 
have  been  with  less  satisfaction  to  myself  Indeed. 
1  have  occasionally  been  KhI  to  doubt  whether  I 
have  viewed  the  sul)ject  with  impartiality,  oilher 

n 


i\r 


'tl- 


82 


\'    ■« 


't 


I 


\ilule  receiving  the  kind  attentions  which  I  have 
so  generally  met  with,  or  when  exposed  to  the  in- 
conveniences incident  to  travelling  in  the  unsettled 
parts  of  the  country.  I  have  sometimes  heen 
ashamed  to  find  how  much  my  opinions  were  in- 
fluenced for  the  moment  by  humour  or  circum- 
stances, and  how  necessary  it  was  to  guard  against 
forming  ideas  of  a  peculiar  town  from  the  recep- 
tion which  I  might  happen  to  meet  with,  or  the 
circle  into  which  I  might  accidentally  fall.  I  shall 
in  future  have  little  confidence  in  any  general  con- 
clusions respecting  a  country,  founded  on  the  ex- 
perience of  a  single  traveller;  since,  however 
candid  may  be  his  representations,  they  must  ne- 
cessarily be  drawn  ("rom  a  range  of  observation 
comparatively  limited  ;  and  be  tinctured,  at  least 
in  some  degree,  with  his  own  mental  peculiari- 
ties. 

Having  thus  prepared  you  to  receive  my  state- 
ments with  caution,  I  will  give  you  my  impressions 
without  reserve.  If,  in  opposition  to  their  repub- 
lican principles,  we  divide  the  Americans  into 
classes,  the  first  class  will  comprehend  what  are 
termed  the  Revolutionary  Heroes,  who  hold  a 
sort  of  patent  of  nobility,  undisputed  by  the  bitter- 
est enemies  to  aristocracy.  Their  numbers, 
indeed,  are  few,  but  they  have  too  many  peculiar 
features  to  be  embraced  in  the  description  of  any 
other  class  of  their  countrymen.  Many  of  them 
were  educated  in  England  ;  and  even  those  who 
never  travelled  had  generally  the  advantage  oi 
the  best  English  society,  either  colonial  or  mili- 
tary. They  were  formed  in  the  English  nchool ; 
were   embued   with   English   associations;    and. 


8J 


however  active  tlioy  were  in  resisting  the  en- 
croachments of  lliC  mollior  country,  they  are. 
many  of  them  nt  least,  delighted  to  trace  tiieir 
descent  to  English  families  ot"  rank,  and  to  boast 
of  the  pure  English  blood  which  Hovis  in  their 
veins.  In  the  iamilies  of  these  patricians,  in  which 
1  have  spent  many  agreeable  hours,  1  met  with 
nothing  to  remiiid  me  that  I  was  not  in  the  society 
of  that  class  of  our  well-educated  country  gen- 
tlemen, who  occasionally  visit  the  metropolis, 
and  mingle  \\\  fashionable  or  political  life.  The 
old  gentlemen  of  this  class  arc  indeed  gentlemen  oi 
the  old  school ;  and  tlio  young  ladies  are  parti- 
cularly agreeable,  retined,  accomplished,  intelli- 
gent, and  well-bred. 

The  second  class  may  include  the  leading  po- 
litical characters  of  the  present  day,  the  more 
eminent  lawyers,  the  well-educated  merchants 
and  agriculturists,  and  the  most  respectable  of 
the  novi  homines  of  every  profession,  it  will  thus 
comprise  the  mass  of  the  good  society  of  Ameri- 
ca ;  the  first  class,  which  comprehends  the  best, 
being  very  limited,  sui  generis,  and  about  to  expire 
with  th*^  present  generation.  The  manners  of 
this  second  class  are  less  polished  than  those  of 
the  corresponding  class  in  England,  and  their 
education  is  neither  so  regular  nor  so  classical ; 
but  their  intellacts  are  as  actively  exercised,  and 
their  information  at  least  as  general,  .".llliough 
less  scientific  and  profound.  The  young  ladies  of 
this  class  are  lively,  modest,  and  unreserved  ; 
easy  in  their  manners,  and  rather  gay  and  social 
in  their  dispositions  ;  at  the  same  time,  they  are 
very  ol)servant  of  the  rule-  of  female  propriety  : 


u 


t* 


■  I, 
lit 


and  il'  ihey  ev(M-  displease,  it  is  rather  from  indil- 
ference  titan  from  cither  bashfulness  or  effrontery. 
Their  appearance  is  generally  geiiteel  and  agree- 
able ;  their  figures  are  almost  uruversally  good ; 
and  they  dress  remarkably  well — in  this  city,  in- 
deed, more  to  my  taste  than  in  almost  any  place 
I  recollect;  for  which  they  are  indebted  partly 
to  the  short  passciges  h*om  Europe,  which  wait 
across  the  Atlantic  the  latest  fashions  from  London 
and  Paris;  partly  to  their  accomodating  taviff, 
which  places  within  their  reach  the  beautilul 
Canton  crapes,  and  all  the  most  elegant  material? 
for  dress  which  American  enterprise  can  collect 
ill  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  ;  and  partly  to 
the  simplicity  of  the  Quaker  costume,  which  has 
had  a  happy  and  sensible  intlueiice  on  the  taste 
and  habits  of  the  community  at  large.  Their 
tone  of  voice,  which  is  generally  a  little  shrill, 
and  their  mode  of  pronouncing  a  few  particular 
words,  are  the  peculiarities  of  marmer  which  f 
think  would  be  most  remarked  upon  in  the  best 
society  in  England.  Generally  speaking,  also, 
the  style  of  female  education  in  America  is  less 
favourable  to  solid  acquirements  than  with  us. 
The  young  ladies  here  go  earlier  into  society  than 
ni  England,  and  enter  sooner  into  married  life  : 
they  have  not,  therefore,  the  same  opportunities 
for  maturing  their  tafetc,  expanding  their  intellect, 
and  acquiring  a  rich  store  of  well-arranged  and 
digested  knowledge,  as  those  have  who  devote  to 
improvement  *he  longer  interval  which  climate 
or  custom  has  with  us  interposed  between  the 
nursery  ajid  the   di-awlng-room.     in  the   highest 


U,i, 


8j 


class,  especially  in  Carolina,  there  are  many  ex- 
♦U'ptions  to  this  general  remark ;  and  among  the 
youijg  ladies  of  Boston  there  appeared  to  me  to 
be,  if  less  refinement  than  in  the  Carolinians,  yei 
a  very  agreeable  union  of  domestic  habits  and 
litci-ary  taste,  and  great  kindness  and  siniplicily 
of  manners. 

The  third  class  may  comprehend  all  below  the 
Hocond  ;  for  m  a  country  where  some  would  per- 
haps resent  even  the  idea  of  a  second  class,  this 
division   is   sufficiently  minute.     This  class  will 
mclude  the  largest  proportion  of  the  American 
population;  and  it  is  distinguished  from  the  cor 
responding  classes  of  my  countrymen  (the   litth- 
farmers,  innkeepers,  shopkeepers,  clerks,  niechan 
ics,  servants,  and  labourers)  by  greater  acuteness 
and  intelligence,  more  regular  hahits   of  reading, 
a  wilder  range  of  ideas,  and  a  greaiter  freedom  from 
prejudices,    provincialism,    and    vulgarity.     It    is 
distinguished,  also,  hy  greater  coldness  of  ninnncr  ; 
and  this  is  the  first  of  the  charges  against  the  na- 
tion,  generally,  on  which  1  shall  remark. 

As  respects  the  highest  classes,  I  think  this 
charge  is  in  a  great  measure  unfoinided  ;  their  re- 
ception of  a  stranger,  at  least,  appearirig  to  me  as 
frank  and  as  warm  as  in  England.  To  that  part 
of  the  population  which  I  have  iiicluded  in  the 
third  class,  the  charge  attaches  with  strict  propri- 
tty,  and  in  many  cases  iheir  coldness  amounts  to 
the  English  "  cut  direct."  At  first  it  incommoded 
me  excessively,  especially  in  tlie  women  iri  the 
country,  wiio  showed  ii  the  most ;  and  1  have  some- 
times been  disposed  to  ride  on.  not  in    the    hesi 


86 


leinper,  when,  arriving  at  an  inn,  after  a  long  stage 
before   breakfast,  and   asking  very  civilly,  "-Can 
we  have  breakfast  here  ?"  I  have  received  a  shrill 
"  I  reckon  so,"   from  a  cold  female    figure,  that 
went  on   in    it&  employments,  without   deigning 
to  look  at  us,  or  to  put  any  thing  in   motion  to 
verily  its  reckoning.     In  due  time,  however,  the 
bread  was  baked,  the  chicken    killed,  and   both 
made  their  appearance,  with  their  constant  com- 
panions,  even   in   the  wildest  part  of  America, 
Jiam,  eggs,  and  coffee.     The  automaton  then  took 
its  place;  and  if  I   had  been  an  automaton  also, 
the  charm  would  have  remained  uid)roken ;  but 
I  do  not  remember  an  instance  in  which  the  figure 
did  not  converse  with  good  humour  before  1  rose. 
Very  often,  however,  our  reception  was  warm  and 
friendly ;  and  the  wife  or  daughter  who  poured 
out  my  cofTee  was  frank,  well-bred,  obliging,  and 
conversible.     The  coldness  of  the  men,  also,  I 
soon  found  to   be   conlined    principally  to  their 
manner,  and  to  indicate  no   indisposition   to  be 
sociable  and  accommodating.      On  the  contrary, 
In  a  route  of  more  than  7000  miles,  of  which    I 
travelled  nearly  2000  on  horseback,  and  the  rest 
in  steamboats  and  stages,  1  have  found  the  various 
classes  as  accommodating  and  obliging  as  in  Eng- 
land: sometimes,  I  confess,  I  have  thought  more 
so.     Some  parts  of  Georgia  and    the   Carolinas 
might  suggest  a  slight  qualification  of  this  remark ; 
v\hile  East  Tennessee,  and  the  valley  of  Ihe  She- 
nandoah, might  almost  claim  a  warmer  eulogium. 
In  the  course  of  my  route,  I  have  met  with  oidy  one 
instance  of  pers^onai  rudeness,  aiid  that  too  slight 


I 


* 


87 


> 


4 


I 
I 


to  be  mentioned,  except  for  the  sake  of  lilrral  ac- 
curacy. My  servatit'.s  impretsioiis  correspond  uitli 
mine.  On  questioning  him,  at  the  termination 
of  our  route,  he  said  "'•he  thon<^ht  the  Americans 
quite  as  ready  to  serve  ns  and  one  anolli(?r  as  tlic 
Englisli ;"  and  that  they  were  continually  express- 
ing their  surprise  to  tiiul  Enjijlishmen  so  civil. 
Now  our  civility  was  nothing  more  than  wouhl 
naturally  be  suggested  hy  a  recollection  of"  ihe 
institutions  of  tiie  country  through  which  we  were 
travelling,  and  a  general  desire  to  he  pleased 
with  friendly  intentions  however  manifested.  Tiie 
coldness  of  manner  of  the  Americans,  Ijowever,  is 
a  great  defect,  and  must  prejudice  travellers  till 
they  understand  it  a  little. 

With  regard  to  the  ra>:ilt/  which  is  charged  up- 
on them:  this  foible  is  admitted  by  all  their  sensi- 
ble men,  who  are  dirigusted  with  the  extravagant 
pretensions  maintained  in  inflated  language  in 
their  public  prints.  I  have  heard  some  of  them 
jocosely  say,  that  tliey  expect  their  countrymen 
will  soon  begin  to  assert  that  they  are  not  only 
the  most  powerful  and  the  most  learned,  but  the 
oldest  nation  in  the  world. 

In  good  society,  however,  I  have  seldom  wit- 
nessed this  vanity  in  any  remarkable  ilegree,  and 
I  really  think  I  have  seen  more  of  it  in  the  Ameri- 
cans I  have  met  with  in  England,  tl»afi  in  the 
whole  range  of  my  observation  since  1  landed  in 
this  country.  When  I  have  made  the  concessions 
to  which  I  thought  the  Americans  fairly  entitled. 
I  have  not  often  observed  a  disposition  to  push 
tlieir  claims  too  far,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  readi- 


f ; 


I' 


\H 


I 


iiV, 


iiess  lo  suggest  some  point  olcomparHon  in  wliltii 
(ircnt  Britain  has  obviously  the  advantage.  And, 
without  attempting  to  defend  an  acknowledged 
defect  in  their  character,  1  must  confess  the  Ame- 
ricans have  some  excuse  for  their  vanity.  De- 
scended (wliicli  of  us  will  dispute  it  ?)  from  most 
illvstrious  ancestors^  possessing  a  territory  perhaps 
iiiiequalled  in  extent  and  value,  victorious  in  the 
infancy  of  their  history  in  a  struggle  for  their  in- 
dependence, and  rising  w»th  unprecedented  ra- 
pidity in  the  scale  of  nations,  they  must  he  mon; 
than  mortal  if  they  were  not  elated  with  their 
condition  ;  and  if  sometimes  they  may  appear  to 
draw  too  heavily  on  the  future,  and  to  regard 
America  rather  as  what  she  is  to  be,  than  what 
she  is.  I  must  own  that  I  never  yet  met  with  an 
American  who  carried  his  views  of  her  future 
greatness  so  far  as  I  should  be  disposed  to  do  il 
she  were  my  country,  and  if  I  could  be  satisfied  of 
the  predominating  influence  o^  religious  principle  in 
her  public  councils. 

As  for  the  inquisitiveness  of  the  Americans,  I  do 
not  think  it  has  been  at  all  exaggerated.  They 
certainly  are,  as  they  profess  to  be,  a  very  iufjuir- 
ing  people;  and  if  we  may  sometimes  be  dispon- 
ed to  dispute  the  claims  of  their  love  of  knowiinr 
to  the  character  of  a  liberal  curiosi/i/^  we  must  at 
least  admit  that  they  make  a  most  liberal  use  of 
every  means  in  their  power  to  gratify  it.  I  have 
sehlom,  however,  had  any  difliculty  in  repressing; 
their  home  questions,  if  I  wished  it,  and  without 
oflending  them;  but  I  more  frequently  amused 
myself  by  putting  them  on  the  rack  ;  civilly,  and 


Jti 


«9 


apparently  unconsiously,  eluding  their  inquiries 
for  a  time,  and  then  awakening  their  gratitude  by 
such  a  discovery  of  myself  as  I  might  choose  to 
make.  Sometimes  a  man  would  place  himself  at 
my  side  in  the  wilderness,  and  ride  for  a  mile  or 
two  witliout  the  smallest  communication  between 
us,  except  a  slight  nod  of  the  head.  He  would 
then,  perhaps,  make  some  grave  remark  on  the 
weather;  and  if  I  assented  in  a  monosyllable,  he 
would  stick  to  my  side  for  another  mile  or  two, 
when  he  would  commence  his  attack.  "  I  reck- 
on, stranger,  you  do  not  belong  to  these  parts." 
"  No,  sir,  I  am  not  a  native  of  Alabama."  "  I 
guess  you  are  from  the  north."  "  No,  sir,  I  am 
not  from  the  north."  "■  I  guess  you  found  the 
roads  mighty  muddy,  and  the  creeks  swimming. 
You  are  come  a  long  way,  1  guess."  "  No,  not 
rfo  very  far  ;  we  have  travelled  a  few  hundred 
miles  since  we  turned  our  faces  westward."     "  I 

guess  you  have  seen  Mr. ,  or  General " 

(mentioning  the  names  of  some  well-known  indi- 
viduals in  the  middle  and  southern  states,  who 
were  to  serve  as  guideposts  to  detect  our  route;) 
but,  "  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  knowing  any  of 
them;"  or,  "  I  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  all," 
equally  defeated  his  purpose,  but  not  his  hopes. 
'•  1  reckon,  strai  ger,  you  have  had  a  good  crop  of 
cotton  this  year."  '*  J  am  lold,  sir,  the  crops  have 
been  unusually  abundant  in  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia." "  You  grow  tobacco,  then,  I  guess,"  (to 
track  me  to  Virginia.)  "  No,  I  do  not  grow  to- 
bacco." Here  a  modest  iiKjuircr  would  give  up 
in  do'^pnir.  and  trust  to  the  chapter  of  accident-. 

1-2 


l,r 


*      H- 


00 

lodevelope  my  name  and  history ;  hut  I  general- 
ly rewarded  his  modesty,  and  excited  his  grali- 
liule,  by  telling  him  I  would  torment  him  no 
longer. 

The  courage  of  a  thorough-bred  Yankee* 
would  rise  with  his  dithcuitics;  and,  alter  a  de- 
cent interval,  he  would  resume  :  "  1  hope  no  of- 
fence, sir;  but  you  know  we  Yankees  lose  no- 
thing for  want  of  asking.  I  guess,  stranger,  you 
are  from  the  old  country/'  "  Well,  my  friend, 
you  have  guessed  right  at  last,  and  I  am  sure  you 
deserve  something  tor  your  perseverance;  sind, 
now,  1  suppose  it  will  save  us  both  trouble  if  I 
proceed  to  the  second  part  of  the  story,  and  tell 
you  where  I  am  going.  I  am  goijig  to  New-Or- 
leans" This  is  really  no  exaggerated  picture: 
dialogues,  not  indeed  in  these  very  words,  but  to 
this  effect^  occurred  continually,  and  some  of  them 
more  minute  and  extended  than  I  can  venture  up- 
on in  a  letter.  I  ought,  however,  to  say,  that  ma- 
ny questions  lose  much  of  their  familiarity  when 
travelling  in  the  wilderness.  "  Where  are  you 
from  ?"  and  "  whither  are  yon  bound  ?"  do  not 
appear  impertinent  interrogations  at  sea;  and  of- 
ten in  the  western  wilds  1  Ibund  myself  making  in- 
quiries which  i  should  have  thought  very  free 
and  e.ipy  at  home.  And,  indeed,  why  should  that 
be  deemed  a  breach  of  good  manners  in  JVorth 
America,  which  in  South  America  is  required  by 
the  rules  of  common  politeness  ?  "  The  Abi- 
pones  of  Paraguay,*'  says  DobrizholTer,  "  would 

*  In  Anu-rica,  tlie  term  Yankee  is  applied  to  the  natives  of  New- 
Enc^.inJ  oii'y,  and  a  gLnerally  used  uitli  an  air  of  pleasantry. 


•apv 


Ui 


tlimk  it  quite  contrary  to  the  law^  ol^ood  breed- 
incf  were  they  to  inetH  any  one  and  not  to  nnk  him 
where  he  was  iJ^o\ufr;  so  that  the  won!  iniekaucf* 


or   iniekuiK 


hit.;  ? 


wher«'    are  )ou    going 


re- 


soundH  in  the  streetn." 

The  next  American  hahit  on  wliich  I  will  re- 
nmrk,  which  always  oflJ-nded  me  extremely,  is  the 
almost  universal  one  oi' spilfing.  without  regard  to 


pi 


ace,  or  cirrumslances. 


Vou  must  excuse 
could  nol  m 


time 

my  alluding  to  such  a  topic;  but  I  could  not  i 
candour  omit  it.  since  it  is  the  most  olTensiv<>  pe- 
culiarity in  American  manners.  Mai  y,  who  are 
really  gentlemen  in  otljer  respects,  otlend  in  this; 
and  I  regretted  to  observe  the  practice  even  in  ihc 
diplomatic  parties  at  Washington.  Indeed,  in  the 
Capitol  its(Mr,  the  «lignity  ol  the  senate  is  lot  down 
by  this  vile  habit.  I  was  there  liie  tirst  session 
alter  it  was  rebuilt;  and  as  the  magnificent  and 
beautiful  halls  had  been  provided  with  splendid 
carpets,  some  of  the  senators  appeared  at  first  a 
little  daunted ;  but  alter  looking  about  in  distress, 
and  disposing  of  their  diluted  tobacco  at  first  with 
timidity  and  by  stealth,  tliey  gathered  by  degrees 
the  courage  common  to  corporate  bodies,  and  be- 
fore I  left  Washington  had  relieved  themselves 
pretty  well  from  the  dazzling  brightness  of  the 
brilliant  colours  under  their  feet!  It  was  morti- 
fying to  me  to  observe  all  this  in  an  assembly 
whose  proceedings  are  conducted  with  so  much 
order  and  propriety,  and  in  chambers  so  truly 
beautiful  as  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen- 
tatives— the  latter  the  most  beautiful  hall  I  ever 
saw. 


1 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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7 


Hiotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14SS0 

(716)  872-4503 


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t   ; 


W\ 


I:     I 


Another  thing  which  has  ilisf^^leased  ine,  is  the 
profusion  and  waste  usually  exhibited  at  meals.     Ex- 
cept in  the  very  best  society,  the  plate  is  often 
loaded  with  a  variety   of  viands,  which  are  dis- 
missed half-eaten.     An  Enghshman  is  shocked  at 
the  liberal  portions  allotted  to  the  young  ladies, 
till  he  finds  they  afford  no  measure  of  the  appe- 
tites of  those  to  whom  they  are  sent,  who  appear 
to  be  as  abstemious  as  his  own  fair  country-wo- 
men.    Still  this  exhibition  of  waste  is  always  dis- 
pleasing; and  when  viewed  in   connexion  with 
the  sufierings  of  so  many  of  the  population  of  our 
country,  is  also  distressing.     But  the  necessaries 
of  life  are  here  produced  in  abundance,  and,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  are  within  the  reach  of  every 
one.     I  only  recollect  seeing  three  beggars  since 
I  landed. 

After  touching  on  these  points,  I  do  not  feel 
willing  to  conclude  my  letter  without  reminding 
you  of  the  kindness  and  hospitality,  the  good  sense 
and  intelligence,  which  I  have  every  where  met 
with ;  and  of  that  frequent  exhibition  of  philan- 
thropic and  religious  feeling  which  has  given  a 
peculiar  interest  to  many  of  the  scenes  through 
which  I  have  passed.  The  American  character, 
to  be  estimated  correctly,  must  be  regarded  as  a 
whole ;  and  as  a  whole  it  has  been  calumniated 
to  a  degree  derogatory  both  to  the  intelligence 
and  the  generosity  of  my  country.  The  Ameri- 
cans have  been  exasperated  into  unfriendly  feel- 
ings by  our  real  jealousy  and  apparent  contempt ; 
and  their  very  sensibility  to  our  good  opinion, 
which  they  cannot  conceal,  has  rendered  the  mis- 


93 


representations  of  our  travellers  and  journalists 
the  more  irritating.     Americans  have  often  asked 
me  if  we  do  not  in  England  consider  them  a  horde 
of  savages;  and  when  the  question  has  heen  pro- 
posed to  me  by  a  fair  lady,  in  a  handsome  draw- 
ing room  furnished  with  every  article  of  luxury 
which  money  could  procure  in  London  or  Paris, 
I  found  no  difficulty  in  acquiescing  in  the  conclu- 
sion which  she  seemed  to  draw  from  a   hasty 
glance  around  her,  that  "such  an  idea  would  not 
be  quite  just.     On   such  occasions  I   have  often 
thought  how  many  of  my  candid  and  liberal  fe- 
male friends  would  blush,  if  they  could  be  intro- 
duced for  the   evening,  to  find   how  erroneous 
were  their  previous  ideas  of  trans-Atlantic  socie- 
ty.    But  it  is  when  joining  in  religious  worship 
with  exemplary  and  eminent  Christians,  or  wit- 
nessing the  extent  and  variety  of  their  benevo- 
lent efforts,  that  I  most  keenly  feel  the  apathy 
with  which  in  England  we  are  accustomed  to  re- 
ga  d   our  American  brethren.     I  really  am  not 
without  hopes,  that  it  may  yet  become  the  fashion 
for  ladies  of  the  two  countries  to  reciprocate  visits 
across  the  Atlantic.     Then,  and  perhaps  not  till 
then,  will  my  countrywomen  learn  to  do  justice 
to  their  Western  sifters ;  and  leaving  it  to  us, 
their  knights-errant,  to  maintain  their  own  supe- 
riority, as  in  duty  bound,  will  begin  to  think  it 
possible  at  least  that  intelligence,  refinement,  and 
piety  may  combine,  even  on  this  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic, to  form  characters  justly  entitled  to  esteem 
and    atTeciion.     The    supercilious   disdain   with 
which,  in  many  circles,  the  very  idea  of  polished 


K. 


i 


'- 


f 


I  i 


ii^ 


4 


9t 

society  in  America  is  rejected,  wouM  be  riiippresis- 
ed  by  a  more  correct  estimate  of  American  man- 
ners ;  and  prejudice  would  be  succeeded  by  can- 
dour and  liberality.  Christian  sympathy  also 
would  be  awakened  towards  those  unknown  dis- 
tant friends,  who,  sprung  from  the  same  stock, 
and  speaking  the  same  language,  profess  also  the 
same  religion ;  and  who,  strangers  and  pilgrims 
on  the  earth,  like  their  European  brethren  and 
sisters,  are  travelling  a  thorny  road  to  that  better 
country  where  all  true  Cliristians  will  be  for  ever 
united  in  one  common  family. 

My  very  sensibility  to  the  unrivalled  excellen- 
cies of  my  fair  countrywomen  makes  me  addition- 
ally solicitous  that  they^  at  least,  should  be  exempt 
from  those  unchristian  prejudices,  which  some  of 
m)  countrymen  appear  to  regard  as  proofs  of  pa- 
triotism. The  pleasure  and  exultation  with 
which  I  have  just  been  listening,  in  a  large  party, 
to  warm  eulogiums  on  Mrs.  Hannah  More  and 
Mrs.  Fry,  and  some  other  of  our  illustrious  fe- 
males, have  rendered  me  at  this  moment  pecu- 
liarly susceptible  on  this  point;  and  you  must 
excuse  me  if  I  write  with  corresponding  earnest- 
ness. The  conversation  afterwards  turned  on  the 
signs  of  the  times  in  both  countries;  and  on  our 
rambles  in  Canada,  where  many  of  the  party  had 
spent  the  summer.  It  was  very  pleasant  to  com- 
pare our  adventures  and  impjcssions.  Montreal 
and  Quebec  are  so  much  like  old  European 
towns,  and  differ  sc  widely  from  the  airy,  expan- 
sive cities  of  the  United  States,  that  an  American 
frels  as  far  from  home  on  his  first  arrival  in  a 


^^^ 


^te' 


95 


Canadian  city,  as  I  did  in  the  forests  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi.    As  he  looks  round  him,  he  feels  more 
and  more  in  a  foreign  land  ;  and  the  foreign  lan- 
guage and  gentle  manners  of  the  native  Canadi- 
ans confirm   the  impression.     The  pomp  of  mo- 
narchy, even  when  dimly  seen  in  the  regalia  of  a 
viceroy :  the  aristocratical  distinctions  apparent 
even  in  a  colony  :  the  vestiges  of  the  feudal  sys- 
tem to  be  traced  in  the   surrounding  seignories ; 
the  nunneries,  and  the   Catholic  churches,  with 
their  vesper  and  matin  bells ;  the  Catholic  cler- 
gy walking  in  the  streets;  and  the  boards  of  ple- 
nary indulgence  suspended  from  the  walls,  are  all 
calculated  to  recall  impressions  connected  rather 
with  the  old  world,  than  with  the  newly  disco- 
vered continent,  where  man  still  shares  his  divid- 
ed empire  with  the  beasts  of  the  forest.     Here  no 
gray  tower  meets  the  eye,  to  call  back  the  imagi- 
nation to  scenes  and  incidents  of  elder  times ;  no 
monastic  edifices,  to  revive  the  memory  of  ancient 
superstitions;  no  regalia,  transmitted  through  a 
line  of  kings ;  no  feudal  magnificence ;  no  baro- 
nial splendour;  no    sacred  depositories   of  the 
ashes  of  generations  who   have  slept  with  their 
fathers  during  a  thousand  years  :  all  is  new,  fresh, 
and  prospective;  and  if  the  mind  will  take  a  re- 
trospective glance,  it  is  but  to  expatiate  in  the  re- 
gions of  fancy,  or  to  lose  itself  in  the  clouds  which 
rest  on  the  early  history  of  the  aborigines.     But  I 
shall  have  tired  you. 


^i 


I 


V 


96 


LETTER  XI. 

Charleston,  JV.  C.  Feb.  19,  1820. 

The  celebrated  Missouri  question  continued 
the  great  subject  of  discussion,  both  in  and  out  ol 
Congress,  as  long  as  1  remained  at  Washington. 
The  debates,  both  on  the  constitutional  difficul- 
ties involved  in  the  question,  and  on  the  expedi- 
ency of  the  proposed  restrictions,  were  very  in- 
teresting; the  former,  as  developing  the  spirit  of 
the  constitution,  and  requiring  a  constant  refer- 
ence to  the  original  principles  of  the  confedera- 
tion ;  the  latter,  as  exhibiting  the  views  of  the 
most  enlightened  men  in  the  country  with  regard 
to  the  probable  effects  of  the  admission  of  slave- 
ry into  Missouri. 

I  left  Washington  on  the  24th  ult.  proceeding 
only  to  Alexandria,  six  miles  distant,  where  1 
slept,  and  where  I  had  been  not  a  little  surprised 
to  meet  Joseph  Lancaster  a  few  days  before.  1 
set  off"  the  next  morning  at  three  o'clock,  in  what 
is  called  the  mail-stage,  the  only  public  convey- 
ance to  the  southward,  and  a  wretched  contrast 
to  the  excellent  coaches  in  the  north.  It  is  a  co- 
vered waggon,  open  at  the  front,  with  four  horses ; 
and  although  it  was  intensely  cold,  I  was  obliged 
to  take  my  seat  by  the  driver,  in  order  to  secure 
a  view  of  the  country  during  the  remainder  of  the 
day.  The  road  !ay  across  woody  labyrinths, 
through  which  the  driver  seemed  to  wind  by  in- 


■  \ 


L.. 


'H 


97 


I,  1820. 

ntinued 
il  out  of 
lington. 
diificul- 
expedi- 
very  in- 
pirit  oi' 
t  refer- 
red era- 
of  the 
regard 
f  slave- 

leeding 
here  1 
rprised 
ore.  1 
n  what 
onvey- 
9ntrast 
s  a  co- 
lorses ; 
bliged 
secure 
of  the 
rinths, 
by  iu- 


stii.ct;  and  we  often  jolted  into  brooks,  which 
were  scarcely  fordable.  Leaving  Mount  Vernon, 
which  I  had  previously  visited,  to  our  left,  we 
reached  Occoquan,  tweniy-three  miles,  to  break- 
fast. Occoquan  is  romantically  situated  on  a  ri- 
ver of  the  same  name,  which  winds  below  masses 
of  rock,  that  my  companion  compared  to  those  of 
the  Hot-wells  at  Clifton,  but  they  did  not  appear 
to  me  to  be  so  high.  We  then  proceeded  by 
Neapsco,  Dumfries,  the  Wappomansie  River,  Ac- 
qnia,  Stafford,  and  Falmouth,  to  Fredericksburgh, 
a  small  town  on  the  Rappahannock,  which  we 
crossed  by  moonlight.  Our  journey  this  day  was 
fifty  miles  in  sixteen  hours.  The  next  morning  at 
three  o'clock  we  left  Fredericksburgh,  and,  pass- 
ing the  Bowling  Green,  Hanover  Court-house,  and 
the  Oaks,  reached  Richmond  at  seven  o'clock, 
sixty-six  miles,  in  seventeen  hours.  At  Hanover 
Court-house,  at  least  IDO  horses  were  standing 
fastened  to  the  trees,  all  the  stables  being  full,  as 
it  was  a  court  day.  This  gave  me  a  good  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  the  Virginia  horses,  which  ap- 
pear to  deserve  their  reputation. 

After  we  left  Alexandria,  the  country  assumed 
an  aspect  very  different  from  any  which  I  had  be- 
fore seen.  For  miles  together  the  road  runs 
through  woods  of  pine,  inter/ningled  with  oak  and 
cedar;  the  track  sometimes  contracting  within 
such  narrow  limits  that  the  vehicle  rubs  against 
the  trees;  at  others  expanding  to  the  width  of  a 
London  turnpike-road,  yet  so  beset  with  stumps 
of  trees,  that  it  requires  no  common  skill  to  effect 
a  secure  passage.      On  emerging,   at  Interval*. 

13 


i 


\m 


from  loiesils  vvhicli  you  liave  l>cgnii  to  Tear  luay 
prove  intcriniiiablc,  tlic  eye  wanders  over  an  ex- 
tensive country,  thickly  wooded,  and  varied  with 
fiill  and  dale ;  and  the  monotony  of  the  road  is 
further  reheved  by  precipitous  descents  into  ro- 
mantic creeks,  or  small  valleys,  which  afford  a 
passage  to  the  little  rivers  which  are  hastening  to 
the  Atlantic.  Every  ten  or  fifteen  miles  you  come 
either  to  a  little  village,  composed  of  a  few  frame 
houses,  with  an  extensive  substantial  house,  whose 
respectable  appearance,  rather  than  any  sign,  de- 
monstrates it  to  be  a  tavern  (as  the  inns  are  call- 
ed,) or  to  a  single  house  appropriated  to  that  pur- 
pose, and  standing  alone  in  the  woods.  At  these 
taverns  you  are  accosted,  often  with  an  easy  civi- 
lity, sometimes  with  a  rep'dsive  frigidity,  by  a 
landlord  who  appears  perfectly  indifferent  whe- 
ther or  not  you  take  any  thing/or  the  good  of  the 
house.  If,  however,  you  intimate  an  intention  to 
take  some  refreshment,  a  most  plentiful  repast  is 
immediately  set  before  you,  consisting  of  beef- 
steaks, fowls,  turkeys,  ham,  partridges,  eggs,  and, 
if  near  the  coast,  fish  and  oysters,  with  a  great  va- 
riety of  hot  bread,  both  of  wheat  flour  and  Indian 
corn,  the  latter  of  which  is  prepared  in  many 
ways,  and  is  very  good.  The  landlord  usually 
comes^in  to  converse. with  you,  and  to  make  one 
of  the  party  ;  and  as  one  cannot  have  a  private 
room,  1  do  not  find  his  company  disagreeable. 
He  is,  in  general,  well  informed  and  well  behaved, 
and  the  independence  of  manner  which  has  often 
been  remarked  upon,  I  rather  like  than  other-, 
wise, when  it  is  not  assumed  or  obtrusive,  but  ap- 


■ii 
■1 


in 


I 


tH> 


9 


^9 


pears  to  arise  iiatiirallv  Ironi  rasy  cMr*'uiiis(aii(ri<. 
and  a  consciousiipss  that,  bulli  with  rospoct  (o 
situation  and  intelligence,  lie  is  at  least  on  a  levrl 
■with  the  generality  of  his  visiters.  At  first  I  was 
a  little  surprised,  on  inquiring  where  the  stage 
stopped  to  breakfast,  to  be  told,  At  Major  Todd's 
— to  dine?  At  Col.  Brown's — but  1  am  now  be- 
coming familiar  with  these  phenomena  of  civil 
and  political  equality,  and  wish  tu  communicate 
my  first  impressions  before  they  fade  away. 

Between  the  villages,  if  such  they  may  be  call- 
ed, you  see  i'ew  habitations,  and  those  are  almost 
exclusively  log  houses,  which  are  constructed  as 
follows :  Trunks  of  trees,  about  a  foot  or  a  foot 
and  a  half  in  diameter,  generally  with  the  bark 
on,  are  laid  on  one  another,  indented  a  little  at 
each  end,  to  form  a  kind  of  fastening ;  their 
length  determining  the  length  and  width,  and  their 
number  the  height  of  the  buildifig.  The  intersti- 
ces are  usually  filled  with  clay;  though  some- 
times, especially  in  barns,  they  are  allowed  tore- 
main  open,  in  which  case  you  can  generally  see 
daylight  through  both  walls.  Situated  in  a  thick 
wood,  with  a  little  space  cleared  around  them, 
where  the  stems  of  last  year's  Indian  corn  are 
still  standing  among  the  recently  decapitated 
stumps  of  trees,  these  dwellings  exhibit  as  strik- 
ing a  contrast  as  can  well  be  imagined  to  an  Eng- 
lish cottage  with  its  little  garden.  Sometimes, 
however,  as  in  England,  you  may  see  a  neat,,  nio- 
dest-looking  cottage  girl  standing  at  the  door, 
whose  placid,  cheerful  countenance,  seems  to 
smile  with  good-natured  satire  on  the  external  de- 


As 


I 


l(H> 


fv, 


1      k 


f.orations  olrank  and  fashion  ;  and  rvcn  tlio  Idack 
laces  of  the  little  slaves,  the  more  frequent  iidiabi- 
tants  of  these  primitive  cabins,  are  often  irradiat- 
ed with  a  smile  of  playfulness  atul  satisfaction. 

Our  gradual  approach  to  the  southward  has 
been  strongly  indicated  by  a  great  increase  in  the 
proportion  of  the  Black  population.  I  believe  you 
are  aware  that  the  importation  of  Slaves  into  the 
United  States  has  been  prohibited  by  law  since 
the  year  1808  ;  and  thaf;  in  many  of  the  Northern 
states,  slavery  is  either  extinguished  already,  or 
will  be  so  on  the  arrival  of  certain  fixed  and  ear- 
ly periods  appointed  by  their  respective  legisla- 
tures. The  states,  however,  to  the  south  of  Penn- 
sylvania, with  the  exception,  I  believe,  of  Dela- 
ware, have  made  no  provision  for  its  extinction, 
and  are  termed  slave-holding  states;  and  although 
their  legislatures  may  profess  to  be,  and  perhaps 
are,  opposed  to  slavery  in  the  abstract,  yet,  con- 
ceiving that  the  climate  renders  the  use  of  Ne- 
groes indispensable  to  cultivation,  and  that  their 
emancipation  would  be  attended  with  difficulties 
which  have  hitherto  appeared  insurmountable, 
they  may  be  regarded  as  practically  contemplat- 
ing the  perpetuation  of  slavery  to  the  remotest  pe- 
riod to  which  their  political  views  extend.  We 
will  hope,  however,  that  some  ray  of  light  will 
break  in  on  this  gloomy  prospect,  even  though  it 
should  condemn  to  perpetual  sterility  the  arid 
sands  and  pestilential  swamps  on  which  the  Ne- 
groes are  employed. 

You  will  believe  that  it  was  not  without  the 
most  painful  emotions  that  I  for  the  first  time  con- 


t 


■V) 

'I 


I 


Id 


Ne- 


J 
1 


'i 


Ternplrtird  tlir  r«'volli?inj  spnclnclo  ol  inaii  in  l>(iii- 
dagc  to  his  linllow-maii,  and  thai.  I  toit  mysoW  sur- 
rounded by  unhappy  victims  for  whom  nature  and 
humanity  seemed  in  vain  to  urge  tlic  unanswera- 
ble plea,  "  Am  I  not  a  man  and  a  brother?"  Un- 
happy indeed  we  must  regard  them  in  their  de- 
graded condition  ! — although  I  have  no  doubt  that 
they  may  sometimes  pass  through  hfe  with  as  little 
actual  suffering  as  some  of  their  free  brethren.  I 
have  hitherto  conversed  with  but  few  slaves,  com- 
paratively, on  the  plantations  ;  but  I  have  been  sur- 
prised with  the  ease,  cheerfulness,  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  domestic  slaves.  Their  manners,  and 
their  mode  of  expressing  themselves,  have  gener- 
ally beeri  decidedly  superior  to  those  of  many  of 
the  lower  classes  in  England.  The  servants  at 
almost  all  the  hotels  in  the  Southern  states  are 
slaves;  some  belonging  to  the  landlord,  others  to 
farmers  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  let  them  out 
by  the  year.  The  first  1  talked  with  was  at  Wash- 
ington, where  he  came  into  my  bed-room  to  make 
my  ure.  On  seeing  me  disposed  to  converse  with 
him,  he  leaned  his  arm  on  the  chimney-piece  with 
considerable  ease,  and  said  he  was  to  be  free  in 
three  months,  when  he  should  be  twenty  eight 
years  of  age;  that  he  liked  the  thoughts  of  it,  but 
did  not  suppose  he  should  be  better  ofT  than  at 
present;  that  in  fact,  he  should  have  to  do  pre- 
cisely as  he  did  now,  except  that  lie  might  change 
his  master,  if  he  had  a  bad  one :  to  set  against 
which  was  the  consideration,  that  now  his  master 
was  obliged  to  maintain  him,  and  then  lie  must 
starve  if  he  was  idle: — but  that  •'  he  understood 


'1 


t 


fei 


\' 


t-  i  ': 


if: 


ii>.: 


ihr  <:ninn)ori  peopli'  in  /;>>/  con  nrv  wcrr  s(»  op- 
pressed that  they  were  worse  oil'  ihaii  the  shives 
in  America !"  Here  I  eiideavoiued  to  extricate 
him  from  his  egregious  hhiitder. 

Three  out  of  four  of  the  Black  coachmen  we 
had  the  other  day  (all  slaves,)  I  found  very  intel- 
ligent. Tliey  said,  All  they  wanted  was  good 
masters  ;  but  that  their  liability  to  be  sold  to  bad 
ones,  and  to  be  separated  from  their  families,  was 
a  cruel  part  of  their  condition  ; — that  in  that  part 
of  the  country  (Virginia)  they  had  Sunday  to 
tiiemselves;  one  holiday  in  April,  one  in  May, 
and  four  at  Christmas; — that  they  had  public 
worship  on  Sundays,  and  on  one  evening  in  the 
week; — that  many  of  them  could  read  ;  and  that 
some  of  their  preachers  were  Slaves.  1  cannot 
describe  my  feelings  when  sitting  by  the  side  of  a 
fellow-creature  and  talking  to  him  of  his  own 
price!  Often  did  a  little  verse,  with  which  our 
children  are  familiar,  recur  to  my  recollection, 
with  some  sense,  I  hope,  of  the  gratitude  which  it 
ought  to  inspire. 

"  I  was  not  born  a  little  Slave, 

To  labour  in  the  sun, 
And  wish  I  were  but  in  my  grave, 

And  all  my  labour  done." 

Highly  as  I  have  ever  appreciated  the  privi- 
lege of  claiming  as  my  native  country  the  most  fa- 
voured corner  of  the  globe,  I  think  I  never  en- 
tertained so  strong  a  sense  of  this  blessing  as 
since  more  extended  observation  has  enabled  me 
to  feel  its  magnitude  by  comparison  with  other 
countries ;  and  especially  since  I  have  had  the 
opportunity  of  contemplating  a  class  of  my  fellow- 


-1 


^>l 


r,0sai^':u!Ssa!lsu:SSSti^ 


»..«^«.-ri  -iriii-jiii,;,— — 


io:i 


er  en- 
ing  as 
ed  me 

other 
d  the 

llow- 


'■4 


r.rratures  rxrludcd  from  th<'  hfnrfits  olflu*  sorial 
r.ornp.act — not  vohiiitarily  reliiKjiiishii's;  a  portion 
(tl  their  natural  lihrrty  to  sccnirr  (he  tre**  ♦•niov- 
inent  of  the  remainder,  but  toreibly.  and  lor  ever, 
deprived  of  all;  who  see  in  law  but  a  lei;ali/<Mi 
oppressor,  and  in  eivil  instiltitions  a  shelter  indeed 
to  those  who  repose  under  their  shadow,  bul  a 
hostile  combination  of  physical  and  moral  power 
aejainst  the  proscribed  and  helpless  vi(rtims  be- 
yond their  pale.  We  are  ready  enouf;h  to  boast 
ol'our  privileges  as  Hritons,  but  when  shall  we  re- 
member our  responsibilities  ?  These  are  awful- 
ly pjreat.  To  us  are  peculiarly  committed  the 
'•ten  talents;"  and  (he  life  of  an  Englishman 
should  be  a  life  of  self-devotion  to  the  interests  of 
the  unhappy  in  every  clime. 

And  yet  there  is  a  bondage  from  which  all  our 
national  privileges  may  be  insufficient  to  secure 
us — as  real,  although  less  obvious,  as  galling,  but 
not  so  transient,  as  the  captivity  of  the  poor  Ne- 
gro whom  we  commiserate ; — a  bondage  which 
will  press  upon  us  with  its  heaviest  chains  at  that 
awful  hour  of  dissolution  when  the  African  will 
burst  his  manacles  for  ever.  And  there  is  a  free- 
(lorn,  which  connects  many  a  despised  slave  with 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect;  a  freedom 
which  their  benevolent  advocates  in  a  land  of 
liberty  may  overlook. 

"  He  is  the  free  man  whom  the  Truth  makt-s  free, 
And  all  are  slaves  besides  :" 

And  of  him  it  may  be  said,  but  in  a  far  sublim- 
er  sense  than  was  contemplated  by  the  orator 
whose  words  I  borrow,  that  "  he  is  redeemed,  re- 


f^-^-  TS'*^'  Tyvg-sv;;1riyyjj«y«y«»yw,«)rst;'*''»-  •■ 


101 


m 


generated,  disenthralled,  by  the  Spirit  ol"  univer- 
sal eniancipation." 

I  had  expected  to  be  much  pleased  with  Rich- 
mond, but  was  somewhat  disappointed  ;  although, 
had  the  weather  been  brighter,  my  impressions 
would  probably  have  been  more  favourable.  It 
is  built,  like  its  original,  on  the  brow  and  at  the 
toot  of  a  very  steep  hill ;  and  is  washed  by  James 
River,  which,  when  full,  must  be  broader  consi- 
derably than  the  Thames  under  Richmond  Hill. 
A  large  bed  of  rocks  just  opposite  the  town,  .and 
extending,  I  believe.,  some  miles  beyond,  renders 
the  river  unnavigable  for  some  distance  above, 
where  the  navigation  is  resumed  by  means  of  a 
canal.  These  rocks  form  what  are  called  the 
Falls  of  the  river,  and  in  a  flood  must  have  a  mag- 
nificent effect. 

The  Capitol,  where  the  legislature  assemble 
(you  are  aware  that  every  state  has  its  distinct  le- 
gislature, for  the  management  of  its  internal  con- 
cerns, as  well  as  its  senators  and  representatives 
in  the  general  Congress)  is  built  on  the  model  of 
the  Parthenon  at  Athens,  and  is  finely  situated  at 
the  summit  of  the  hill.  The  view  from  it  is  very 
extensive,  but  the  surrounding  country  at  this 
season  is  brown  and  uninteresting ;  not  like  the 
rich  green  English  landscape  which  our  Rich- 
mond Hill  presents,  where  Art  seems  to  have 
completed  what  Nature  had  begun,  by  removing 
whatever  did  not  harmonize  with  her  general  ex- 
pression ;  where  the  sombre  and  venerable  as- 
pect of  our  ancient  forest  and  royal  domains  is 
finely  contrasted  w'th  the  fresh  verdure  of  young 


* 


\-{    . 


i*^XZV:K-^,.:-,^'y::. 


Wfj 


univer- 

h  Rich- 
though, 
ressions 
ble.  It 
d  at  the 
y  James 
r  consi- 
nd  Hill. 
wn,  .and 
renders 
above, 
ins  of  a 
led  the 


i  a  mag- 


ssemble 
tinct  le- 
lal  con- 
ntatives 
lodel  of 
lated  at 
is  very 
at  ti]is 
like  the 
p  Rich- 
o  have 
moving 
jral  ex- 
b!e  as- 
nains  is 
r young 


^0 


:l 


plantations,  hixuriant  meadows,  and  velvet  lawns, 
washed  by  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  silvery 
Thames ;  where  you  embrace  in  a  coup-d^ml  the 
pleasing  and  familiar  images  of  rural  simplicity, 
and  the  refined  decorations  of  the  most  exquisite 
taste ;  where  the  same  objects  which  delight  the 
eye  kindle  the  imagination,  and  awaken  recollec- 
tions which  impart  a  classical  interest  to  the  en- 
chanting scene. 

I  left  Richmond  in  the  stage  at  eleven  o'clock, 
and  arrived  at  Petersburgh  at  six — twenty-five 
miles  in  seven  hours.  The  road  was  a  deep  san- 
dy clay,  in  some  places  barely  passable,  through 
woods  of  pine.  A  few  miles  from  Petersburgh 
the  driver  pointed  out  to  me  -the  old  wooden 
church  which  the  British  made  their  head-quar- 
ters for  some  days,  when  harassed  by  General 
La  Fayette  in  the  revolutionary  war. 

Petersburgh  is  a  little  town,  which  has  risen, 
like  the  phetiix,  from  its  ashes,  having  been  al- 
most entirely  consumed  in  1815.  It  is  situated 
on  the  Oppomaton,  which  falls  into  James  River. 
and  in  summer  must  be  pretty,  but  at  present  the 
adjoining  country  is  brown  and  dreary.  I  am  the 
more  sensible  of  this  defect,  as  my  eyes  have  for 
the  last  six  weeks  been  accustomed  to  a  spark- 
ling surface  of  the  purest  snow,  which  in  many 
cases,  \  have  no  doubt,  has  concealed  the  naked- 
ness of  the  land,  and  which  in  a  woody  country, 
and  a  climate  as  pure  as  this,  greatly  enhances 
the  beauty  of  a  winter  prospect.  I  have  already 
described  the  nature  of  the  accommodations  on 
the  road ;  and  as  I  do  not  intend  to  trouble  you 


«Tt*&»'' 


II 


lot) 


('  r 


with  an  account  of  our  meals,  I  will  once  lor  all 
give  you  a  general  idea  of  a  tavern,  or  inn,  in  the 
Southern  towns.     These  are  sometimes  quite  as 
large,  often  nearly  so,  as  the  York-House  at  Bath. 
On  arriving,  your  luggage  is  immediately  carried 
to  the  baggage-room,  that  the  lobby  may  not  be 
crowded ;  and  the  passengers  afterwards  either 
send  it  to  their  bed-rooms  a^  their  leisure,  or  al- 
low it  to  remain  locked  up.     You  are  then  shown 
into  a  large  room,  which  communicates  with  the 
bar,  or  into  a  reading-room,  filled  with  newspa- 
pers from  almost  every  state  in  the  Union.     Usu- 
ally about  half  past  eight  o'clock  the  bell  rings  for 
breakfast,  and  you  sit  down,  with  sixty  or  eighty 
persons,  to  tesC  and  coffee,  and  every  variety  of 
flesh,  fowl,  and  fish,  wheat  bread,   Indian-corn 
bread,   buck-wheat  cakes,  &c.  &c.     Every  one 
rises  as  soon  as  he  has  finished  his  meal,  and  the 
busy  scene  is  usually  over  in  ten  minutes.     At  two 
or  three  o'clock  the  bell  rings,  and  the  door  un- 
locks, tor  dinner.     The  stream  rushes  in  and  drib- 
bles out  as  at  breakfast,  and  the  room  is  clear  in 
less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour.     At  dinner,  there 
are  frequently  four  or  five  turkeys  on  the  table, 
and  the  greatest  possible  variety  and  profusion  of 
meat,  poultry,  and  pastry.     The  waiters,  who  are 
numerous,  civil,  and  attentive,  carve ;  few  persons 
appearing  to  have  leisure  to  assist  their  neigh- 
bours.    There  are  decanters  of  brandy  in  a  row 
down  the  table,  which  appeared  to  me  to  be  used 
with  great  moderation,  and  for  which  no  extra 
charge  is  made.     Tea  is  a  repetition  of  breakfast, 
with  the  omission  of  beet-steaks,  but  in  other  re- 


•4 

I 


'*■*■• -^•^-  'x.«-\wm»''t^  -•  "^ 


107 


spects  with  almost  an  equal  profusion  of  meat, 
fowls,  turkey-legs,  &c.  While  on  the  subject  of 
eating,  which  I  do  not  intend  to  resume,  (I  mean, 
the  subject,)  I  will  mention,  that  I  do  not  recollect 
to  have  dined  a  single  day,  from  my  arrival  in 
America  till  I  left  Virginia,  without  a  turkey  on 
the  table ;  often  two,  in  gentlemen's  houses.  On 
Christmas-Eve,  in  the  little  town  of  Norfolk,  Vir- 
ginia, it  was  said  that  6000  turkeys  were  in  the 
market.  The  picture  which  I  have  given  you  of 
the  meals  at  taverns  is  not  an  inviting  one :  they 
more  resemble  a  school-boy's  scramble  than  a  so- 
cial repast.  The  domestic  economy  of  the  bed- 
chamber is  still  less  agreeable.  If  you  do  not 
make  stipulations  lo  the  contrary,  you  are  shown, 
as  a  thing  of  course,  into  a  room  with  from  three 
or  four  to  six  or  seven  beds.  I  have,  however,  ne- 
ver failed,  since  I  left  New-Yirk,  by  early  and 
earnest  application,  to  secure  a  separate  bed- 
chamber, for  I  cannot  reconcile  myself  to  these 
gregarious  habits. 

The  streets  of  Petersburgh  were  crowded  with 
hogsheads  of  tobacco ;  and  on  the  road  we  conti- 
nually met  with  single  hogsheads,  drawn  by  two 
horses,  coming  eighty  or  a  hundred  miles  from 
the  interior.  Two  circular  rims,  like  the  circum- 
ference of  a  wheel,  are  fastened  to  them,  and  they 
turn  on  two  pivots  driven  into  the  ends.  It  was 
not  the  season  to  see  the  tobacco  growing.  I  un- 
derstand that  it  is  a  most  troublesome  crop.  It 
requires  the  best  soil ;  and  either  new  land  must 
be  cleared  for  it  expressly,  or  the  wheat  and  In- 
dian-corn lands  must  be  robbed  ol"  their  m£inure 


•# 


I1 


\     > 


■A: 


KIB 


i'l 


■>  m 


riie  high 


to  provi<le  a  rno«t  inadequate  supply. 
prices  which  tobacco  has  frequently  obtained  in 
Europe,  have^encouraged  its  cultivation,  to  an  ex- 
tent which  it  probably  would  never  have  attained, 
if  its  average  vahie  in  relation  to  wheat  and  In- 
dian-corn had  been  more  apparent,  and  if  it  had 
been  deprived  of  its  attractions  as  an  article  of 
speculation.  I  was  informed,  by  some  members 
of  an  agricultural  society  in  Virginia,  that  the  in- 
jurious effects  of  the  system  of  agricnlture  pursu- 
ed by  the  tobacco  planters  had  at  length  become 
too  obvious  to  be  overlooked ;  that  many  were 
gradually  relinquishing  the  culture  of  this  plant, 
and  that  some  had  abandoned  it  altogether. 

The  land  in  Virginia  may  be  considered  as  ov- 
cupied  entirely  by  the  proprietors  of  the  soil,  rents 
being  almost  unknown.  The  estates  usually  con- 
sist of  from  1000  to  6000  or  10,000  acres  each; 
and,  ccBteris  paribus.,  those  which  have  been  least 
cleared  are  considered  the  most  valuable.  Oak, 
hickory,  and  dog-wood,  denote  the  best  land ;  ce- 
dar and  pine  the  worst.  When  land  has  been 
worked  out  and  left  to  itself,  it  is  gradually  cloth- 
ed with  wood  again,  though  seldom  of  so  large  a 
growth  as  the  original  trees.  I  have  been  inform- 
ed, but  I  do  not  consider  my  authority  quite  une- 
quivocal, that  oak  is  almost  invariably  succeeded 
by  pine,  and  vice  versa.  Frequently,  when  pass- 
ing through  large  woods  of  pine,  whose  heredita- 
ry title  to  the  soil  I  had  imagined  had  been  hand- 
ed down  to  them  inviolate  by  their  predecessors, 
1  have  detected  marks  of  previous  cultivation, 
and  on  inquiry  have  been  informed  that  the  land 


\i 


KM) 


iSJi 


nhich  thev  occupie<l  wan  for-'  orly  undor  tilloire. 
This  process,  so  reversing  llie  order  of  things 
which  we  inhabitants  of  the  old  world  expect  to 
find  in  the  new,  at  first  puzzled  me  a  little ;  but 
the  Virginian  mode  of  cultivation  in  some  degree 
explained  the  secret. 

I  left  Petersburgh  at  one  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  3d,  and  arrived  at  Raleigh,  the  capital  of 
North  Carolina,  at  three  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
4th — 137  miles  in  38  hours.  Raleigh,  where  we 
were  detained  by  the  want  of  a  conveyance  till 
the  following  day,  is  named  after  the  celebrated 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who,  as  well  as  Pocohontas, 
the  Indian  queen,  and  General  Washington, 
figures  on  the  signs,  and  gives  his  name  to  innu- 
merable taverns  in  those  parts  of  the  country  in 
which  signs  are  not  considered  superfluous.  The 
streets,  wtiich  all  terminate  in  the  surrounding 
forest,  are,  as  in  almost  all  the  American  towns 
and  villages,  very  wide ;  and  the  white  frame 
houses,  with  their  neat  Venetian  blinds,  which  the 
heat  renders  almost  indispensable  to  the  smallest 
house,  give  the  town  a  clean  and  interesting  ap- 
pearance. The  state-house,  in  which  the  legis- 
lature meet,  is  soon  to  receive  a  statue  of  Gener- 
al Washington  from  the  hand  of  Canova. 

We  left  Raleigh  on  the  5th  at  noon,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Fayetteville,  where  we  arrived  at  seven 
the  next  morning,  several  hours  later  than  we  ex- 
pected, having  accomplished  only  sixty  miles  in 
eighteen  hours.  It  was  Sunday;  and  two  or 
three  very  handsome  spires,  which  we  saw  as  we 
ecitered  the  town,  made  us  congratulate  ourselves 


'I^l&iilu-i^ 


IK) 


I'*  \     I. 


[f 


i 


that  we  had  fixed  on  that  place  as  the  spot  whore 
to  pitch  our  tent  for  the   Sabbath.     There  was 
service  three  times  in  the  Episcopal  church ;  and 
I  was  told  that  the  Episcopal  clergyman  and  the 
Presbyterian    minister    preach    alternately    on 
Thursday  evenmg  in  each  other's  place  of  wor- 
ship, and  in  their  other  arrangements  evince  a 
spirit  of  Christian  charily  and  co-operation.     The 
day  was  like  one  of  our  June  days;  and  the  sud- 
den transition   to   summer    was    delightful,   and 
brought  with  it  a  new  train  of  feelings.     People 
were  sitting  in  their  verandas  reading ;  although 
three  days  previously,  in  Virginia,  it  was  intense- 
ly cold,  and  the  road  so  hard  with  frost  that  our 
heavy  stage  made  no  impression. 

We  left  Fayetteville  at  five  o'clock  on  the  8th, 
and,  passing  through  Lumberton  and  Georgetown, 
reached  Charleston  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  10th — 
203  miles  in   53  hours.     This,  you  will  say,  is 
wretchedly   slow   travelling,  in  the  only   public 
conveyance  between  Washington  and  the  South- 
ern states.     Yet  this  vehicle  is  dignified  by  the 
title  of  the  United  States  mail,  although  it  is  only 
an  open  waggon  and   four,  with  curtains  which 
unfurl;  and  the  mail  bags  lie  lumbering  about 
your  feet,  among  the  trunks  and  packages  whicli 
the  passengers  smuggle  into  the  inside.    Indeed, 
there  is  a  strong  temptation  to  make  companions 
of  your  trunks ;  for,  otherwise,  as  they  are  mere- 
ly laid  on  behind,  they  are  in  imminent  danger  of 
being  lost,  although  the  driver  dismounts  every 
few  miles  to  see  that  they  are  safe.     As  this  kind 
of  attention,  however,  seemed  better  adapted   to 


■ial 


:$' 


% 


Mi 


IS 


ascertfiin  your  loss  than  to  secure  your  property, 
I  bought  a  chain  and  padlock :  one  end  ol*  the 
chain  my  servant  introduced  into  the  stage  :  if  he 
had  a  nibble,  his  attention  was  awakened ;  and  a 
bite  showed  that  it  was  high  time  to  stop.  We 
broke  two  chains,  but  brought  our  luggage  safely. 
The  principal  reason  why  the  conveyance  is  so 
wretched,  is,  that  few  persons  travel  from  the 
Southern  to  the  Northern  states  by  land,  except 
in  their  own  carriages ;  and  as  the  road  runs 
through  the  poorest  part  of  America,  even  the 
opulent  families  generally  prefer  the  packets.  I 
should  be  glad,  'for  the  sake  of  the  candour,  of 
those  English  travellers  who  have  so  misrepre- 
sented America,  if  their  range  of  observation  had 
been  confined  to  the  road  on  the  sea-coast  from 
New-York  to  Georgia.  Their  inaccurate  repre- 
sentations might  then  be  accounted  for,  without 
impeaching  either  their  motives  or  their  good 
temper.  From  Petersburgh  to  the  borders  of 
North  Carolina,  the  inns,  the  people,  the  face  of 
the  country,  all  seemed  to  degenerate ;  and  from 
Petersburgh  to  Charleston  we  passed  through  on- 
ly three  small  towns,  and  a  few  very  small  villa- 
ges, although  the  distance  is  400  miles.  The  log- 
huts  were  very  thinly  scattered  ;  and  the  manners 
of  the  lower  classes,  both  of  the  Black  and  White 
population,  altered  very  sensibly  for  the  worse. 
Their  general  demeanour  became  more  rude  and 
familiar,  and  their  conversation  more  licentious 
and  profane:  their  appearance,  also,  was  dirty, 
ragged,  and  uncomfortable.  The  Virginian  night- 
ingales and  mocking-birds  have  been  our  constant 


112 


If 


h      1 


companions ;  and  we  were  desired  lo  look  out  for 
racoons  and  opossums,  but  did  not  see  any.  1  he 
number  and  variety  of  the  squirrels  were  almost 
incredible;  I  heard  of  several  instances  of  from 
2000  to  3000  being  killed  in  a  day  in  some  of  the 
larj^e  squirrel-hunts.  I  once  observed  a  beauti- 
ful one  perfectly  white. 

Although  our  route  lay  principally  through  the 
most  barren  tracts  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas, 
I  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  clearing  of  land 
in  almost  every  different  stage.  The  process,  I 
believe,  is  familiar  to  you,  and  l^will  not  therefore 
describe  it.  You  can  have  no' idea,  however,  of 
the  picture  of  desolation  which  is  presented  by  a 
large  tract  of  girdled  trees,  not  only  destitute  of 
verdure,  but  entirely  stripped  of  their  bark; 
some  black  to  the  top,  with  fire  which  has  been 
applied  to  them;  some  falling  as  you  pass  with  a 
great  crash ;  and  others  going  by  fragments  to  de- 
cay. The  prodigious  size  of  the  pine  trees  thus 
deformed,  and  the  absence  of  any  thing  to  relieve 
the  eye,  which  at  that  season  could  wander  only 
over  a  leafless  forest,  added  greatly  to  the  effect. 
In  passing  through  the  pine  barrens  of  the  Caro- 
linas, we  saw  many  trees  with  little  excavations 
in  them,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  turpen- 
tine from  them  at  particular  seasons  of  the  year. 
When  the  turpentine  begins  to  flow,  the  owner  of 
the  woods  divides  them  into  little  districts,  which 
are  confided  to  the  charge  of  his  slaves.  A  Ne- 
gro has  usually  the  care  of  from  3000  to  .'lOOO 
trees.  I  was  told  that  3000  trees  often  produce 
about  seventy-five  barrels  of  turpentine  annually; 


« 


i 


'  -  -3c*-  '■•^^^Mii.'^SIAL.'^.^^iti^rntv , 


Ji:i 


k  out  for 
ly.  Ihe 
e  almost 
of  from 
[le  of  the 
I  beauti- 

[)ugh  the 

arolinas, 

g  of  land 

rocess,  I 

herefore 

vever,  of 

ted  by  a 

ititute  of 

if  bark; 

las  been 

s  with  a 

ts  to  de- 

ees  thus 

relieve 

er  only 

e  eflfect. 

le  Caro- 

iivations 

turpen- 

le  year. 

wner  of 

,  which 

A  Ne- 

to  /jOOO 

>roduce 

nuallv; 


and  that  the  excavations  are  emptied  live  or  six 
times  in  the  season,  which  lasts  from  about  May 
to  September.  We  also  saw  the  tar-pits,  where 
tlie  tar  is  extracted  from  the  dead  wood  of  the 
pine  trees  in  a  particular  state.  In  the  night  we 
frequently  passed  parties  "  camping  out"  in  the 
woods,  by  large  fires ;  and  occasionally  saw  trees, 
accidentally  set  on  fire  by  their  embers,  gradual- 
ly consuming  like  a  torch.  I  forgot  to  say,  in 
speaking  of  the  clearing  of  land,  that  we  had  a 
striking  instance  of  the  rapidity  with  which  a  set- 
tlement is  occasionally  effected.  The  mail  stage 
stopped  for  breakfast  one  morning  at  a  very  com- 
fortable log-house.  The  land  was  cleared  lor 
about  the  space  of  an  acre,  and,  in  addition  to  the 
house,  there  were  two  out-hnuses;  a  stable,  in 
which  were  the  four  mail  horses;  and  a  granary. 
'J^hirteen  days  previously  this  was  the  middle  of  a 
wood,  and  not  a  tree  was  cut  down  ! 

My  companions  were  delighted  with  the  frog 
concerts  in  the  woods,  and  hailed  them,  as  we  i\o 
the  cuckoo,  as  the  harbinger  of  spring,  i  opened 
my  window  the  first  night,  supposing  these  choris- 
ters were  birds,  and  it  was  a  night  or  two  before 
I  was  undeceived.  I  have  not  thought  them  mu- 
sical since  I  discovered  my  mistake. 

In  the  course  of  our  route  from  Petersburgh  we 
have  crossed  many  rivers  and  creeks,  frequently  by 
ferries  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  In  South  Caro- 
lina we  have  passed  through  several  large  swamps, 
where  the  monotony  of  the  pine  barrens  was 
relieved  by  a  variety  of  beautiful  green  shrubs, 
among  which  the  magnolia  was  moet  conspicu- 


sSft 


Ill 


ft 

if 


s 


ii 


h  t 


i 

\ 


^  if 


0U8.  As  we  approached  the  coust,  (  sow  ^reat 
abundance  ol'  the  vegetable  drapery  which  coverH 
the  trees  like  a  fine  cubweb,  or  hangs  from  them 
like  streamers.  Its  botanical  name,  f  believe,  is 
tellandria  usneaoides.  It  is  frequently  said  to 
mark  the  limits  within  which  the  yellow  fever 
confines  its  ravages,  but  this  is  incorrect,  lor  it  is 
found  every  where  within  the  tropics. 

We  saw  the  first  rice  plantation  at  Georgetown, 
about  sixty  miles  from  Charleston,  and  began  to 
be  shocked  with  the  vacant  looks  and  ragged  ap- 
pearance of  many  of  the  slaves  we  met.  But, 
abating  the  painful  sensations  excited  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  slavery,  our  first  approach  to  this 
city  was  calculated  to  give  us  very  favourable 
impressions,  after  our  long  monotonous  ride 
through  the  pine  barrens.  On  arriving  at  the  fer- 
ry opposite  Charleston,  a  little  after  sun-rise  on 
a  clear  fresh  morning,  we  crossed  an  extensive 
bay,  from  which  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  open 
sea,  and  in  which  several  ships  were  riding  at  ari- 
chor,  loaded  with  rice  and  coffee,  ready  to  sail 
for  England  with  the  first  fair  wind.  Small  boats 
of  various  kinds,  sailing  in  every  direction,  gave 
animation  to  the  scene  ;  while  the  glittering  spires 
increased  our  curiosity  to  see  this  metropolis  of 
South  Carolina,  of  which  we  had  heard  much. 
On  entering  the  city,  we  seemed  to  be  transport- 
ed into  a  garden.  Orange  trees  laden  with  ripe 
oranges,  peach  trees  covered  with  blossoms,  and 
flowering  shrubs  of  a  description  which  I  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  only  in  hot  houses,  gave 
me  impressions  similar  to  those  which  I  suppose 


■# 


III  Mnartaonnawitoifl'iawn^ti' 


1 1 , . 

vou  oxpf  rioiiml  on  visiting  some  of  the  cities  on 
the  Mediterranean,  i  had  no  sooner  sat  down  to 
breakfast  at  the  hotel,  than  I  found  one  black 
slave  at  my  elbow  fanning  away  flies  with  a  flap- 
per, and  three  or  four  covering  the  table  with  a 
profusion  of  dishes.  On  sallying  out  after  break- 
fast, J  fo.und  the  streets  filled  with  well-dressed 
and  genteel-looking  people,  and  carriages  driving 
about  in  every  direction.  But  1  must  reserve  a 
description  of  Charleston  and  its  inhabitants  till  1 
have  become  better  acquainted  with  them. 


<  J 


(>(• 


LETTER  Xlf. 


;/    .       ( 


;,: ;  (  -i 


Charleston,  South  Carolina,  26tk  Feb.  1820.     i 

I  WROTE  to  you  on  the  19th  inst.  and  soon  after- 
wards received  an  invitation,  which  I  gladly  ac- 
cepted, to  accompany  a  gentleman  to  his  rice 
plantation,  about  thirty  miles  distant.  With  the 
interesting  character  of  this  excellent  and  venera- 
ble friend,  1  have  already  made  you  acquainted. 
Descended  from  one  of  the  old  patrician  families, 
who  form  as  it  were  the  nobility  of  Carohna,  edu- 
cated at  one  of  our  English  public  schools  and 
universities,  and  enjoying  a  high  reputation,  ac- 
quired in  arduous  military  and  diplomatic  situa- 
tions, he  would  be  regarded,  I  am  persuaded,  as 
second  to  a  few  in  Europe,  as  a  statesman,  a  scho- 
lar, and  a  gentleman.  I  took  an  early  breakfast 
with  him,  at  his  handsome  town-house,  whence 
we  proceeded  to  the  ferry.  After  crossing  the 
bay,  we  found  the  General's  carriage  waiting  for 


T^r' 


mm.om 


\ 


iir> 


us,  with  a  i'ew  periodical  publications  in   it,  uiui 
with  led  horues,  in  case  we  should   wish   to  vary 
our  mode  of  coiive^'ance.      We  stopped  at   noon 
to  rest  the  horses,  and  to  take  a  little  rei'reshinenl 
in  the  woods,  and  reached  the  plantation  to  a 
late  dinner  in  the  evening.     The  road  lay  through 
a  pine  barren,  such  as  I  have  already  described ; 
and  we  scarcely  passed  a  creature  in  the  course 
of  the  day,  except  my  friend's  sister,  an  old  lady, 
and  her  two  nieces,  who  were  on  their  way  to 
Charleston,  in  a  large  family  carriage  and  ibur, 
with  a  black  servant  on  a  mule  behind,  a  negro 
woman  and  child  on  the  footboard,  and   three  or 
four  baskets  of  country  provisions   hanging  from 
the  axle-tree.     They  inquired  how  far  they  were 
from  the  springs  where  we  had   been  resting,  and 
where  they  proposed  to  take  their  alfresco  repast. 
In  the  morning,  I  strolled  out  betbre  breaklast 
into  the  plantation,  and  saw  about  twelve  female 
slaves,  from  eighteen  to  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 
threshing  rice  on  a  sort  of  clay  floor,  in  the  same 
manner  as  our  farmers  thresh  wheat.     It  was  ex- 
tremely hot,  and   the  employment  seemed    very 
laborious.     After  breakfast,  the  General  took  me 
over  the  plantation ;   and   in  the  course   of  our 
walk  we  visited  the  little  dwellings  of  the  Negroes. 
These  were  generally  grouped  together   round 
something  like  a  farm  -yard ;  and  behind  each  of 
them  was  a  little  garden,  which  they  cultivate  on 
their  own  account.     The  huts  themselves  are  not 
unlike  a  poor  Irish  cabin,  with  the  addition  of  a 
chimney.     The  bedding  of  the  Negroes  consists 
simply  of  blankets,  and  their  clothing  is  generally 


in 


rorifincd  to  u  sorl  ofnanncl  ^nrriients,  made  tip  in 
dirterenl  Ibrms.  Those  whom  I  saw  at  lioine  were 
cowrrinjB;  over  a  fire,  although  the  day  was  op- 
pressively hot,  and  the  little  Negroos  were  svtmitiir 
themselves  with  great  satisfaction  about  the  door. 
They  all  seemed  glad  to  see  my  friend,  who  talked 
to  them  very  familiarly,  and  most  of  them  inquired 
after  their  mistress.  I  was  told  that  their  provi- 
sions were  prepared  for  them,  and  that  twice 
every  day  they  had  as  much  as  they  anked  for  of 
Indian  corn,  sweet  potato,  and  broth,  with  tiic 
occasional  addition  of  a  little  meat.  Benidt's 
this,  they  frequently  prepare  for  themselves  a  little 
supper  from  the  produce  of  their  garden,  and  fish 
which  they  catch  in  the  river.  On  many  planta- 
tions it  is  usual  to  give  out  their  allowance  once  a 
week,  and  to  let  them  cook  it  for  themselves,  their 
fuel  costing  them  nothing  but  the  trouble  of  gath- 
ering it.  A  nurse  and  doctor,  both  negroes  1 
believe,  are  provided  for  them :  and  making  al- 
lowance for  the  sick,  the  children,  &c.  I  was 
told  that  on  the  rice  plantations  in  that  neighbour- 
hood, half  the  gang,  as  they  are  hideously  called, 
were  effective  hands. 

I  heard  my  benevolent  friend  order  wine,  oran- 
ges, &c.  for  some  of  the  invalids ;  and  I  believe 
that  I  have  seen  a  very  favourable  specimen  of 
Negro  slavery.  Yet  the  picture  must  ever  be  a 
dark  one,  and,  when  presented  to  an  eye  not  yet 
familiar  with  its  horrors,  must  excite  reflections 
the  most  painful  and  depressing.  Humanity  may 
mitigate  the  sufferings  of  the  wretched  victims  of 
the  slave  system,  and  habit  render  them  less  sen- 


M 


■'^}- 


11 


'5^  *^ 


.^^^^.^-«fc^.C^p,,, 


'"?Pi«!'MMi^,Bil^||gltl|>illl^Wlj|||i;y,.)WIW.l|p!|]  i.  yj  p. 


I  ^'i  I 


n« 


sihie  to  Ihnir  Hrp^radation  :  out  no  tendernrgs  can 
eradicate  from  slavery  the  evils  inherent  in  its 
very  nature,  nor  familiarity  reconcile  man  to  per- 
petual bondage,  but  by  sinking  him  below  the 
level  of  his  kind. 

The  Negroes  usually  go  to  work  at  sunrise,  and 
finish  the  task  assigned  to  them  at  three  or  four, 
or  sometimes  five  oi*  bl^r  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
They  have  Sunday  to  themselves,  three  days  at 
Christmas,  one  day  for  sowing  their  little  crop  in 
spring,  and  another  for  reaping  it  in  autumn.  In 
the  West  Indies,  I  understand  that  the  slaves  work 
under  the  lash  a  certain  number  of  hours  in  the 
day,  instead  of  having  task-work  ;  and  that  they 
are  not  generally  supplied  with  food  by  the  mas- 
ters, but  have  a  certain  portion  of  time  to  plant 
their  own  provisions,  during  which  they  are  still 
under  the  driver's  lash.  The  mode  of  treatment, 
however,  varies  greatly  in  the  different  islands. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  saw  several 
other  plantations  in  their  neighbourhood;  and  on 
some  of  which  were  very  handsome  residences, 
with  grounds  resembling  an  English  park.  The  live 
oaks  profusely  scattered,  and  often  standing  alone, 
contributed  greatly  to  this  resemblance.  These 
noble  trees  form  a  very  striking  and  interesting 
feature  in  a  Carolinian  landscape,  especially  when 
at  distant  intervals  they  cast  their  broad  shadows 
on  the  level  spacious  tracts  of  cleared  land,  which 
stretch  to  the  distant  forest  without  a  fence,  or 
the  smallest  perceptible  undulation  or  variety  of 
surface.  They  are  not  tall,  but  from  twelve  to 
eighteen  feet  in  girth,  and  contain  a  prodigious 


T-l,      I. 


^m^ 


PS3  can 

in   its 

to  per- 

ow  the 

ise,  and 
or  foiiFf 
evening, 
days  at 
crop  in 
mn.     In 
es  work 
5  in  the 
lat  they 
he  mas- 
to  plant 
are   still 
eatment, 
lands, 
several 
and  on 
idences, 
iTheiive 
ig  alone, 
These 
[eresting 
lly  when 
shadows 
1,  which 
fence,  or 
iriety  of 
^elve  to 
)dio:ion!« 


III) 

quantity  of  timber.  At  the  distance  of  fifteen  or 
eighteen  feet  from  the  ground,  they  divide  into 
three  or  four  immense  limbs,  wliich  grow  nearly 
in  a  horizontal  direction,  or  rather  with  a  gentle 
curve,  to  the  length  of  forty  or  fifty  paces.  The 
wood  is  almost  incorruptible  ;  and  on  this  account 
as  well  as  from  its  furnishing,  in  its  natural  state, 
almost  every  curve  which  is  required  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  vessel,  it  is  invaluable  for  naval 
purposes. 

We  dined  at  a  neighbouring  plantation,   aiid 
after  tea  I  had  a   pleasant  tete-a-tete  ride   home 
through    the   woods  with    my  venerable  friend. 
We  spent  the  evening  very  agreeably,  in  general 
conversation   on  American  and    European  poli- 
tics, and  in  examining  various  works  on  the  botany 
and  ornithology  of  America.     My  friend   had    an 
excellent   library,  comprising   many   recent  and 
valuable  British  publications,  and  a  more  exten- 
sive collection  of  English  Agricultural  works  than 
I    ever  saw  in  a    private    library    before.     The 
house  is  a  very  handsome  one,  and    covers   more 
ground  than  houses  on  a  similar  scale  in  England, 
as  it  is  thought  desirable  in  this  climate   to  have 
only  one  room  deep,  with  a  profusion  of  windows, 
which  do  not  put  one  in  good   humour  with   our 
window-tax.     From  the  windows  of  the    librarv 
and  dining-room,  the  eye  wandered  over  exten- 
sive rice-fields,  the  surface  of  which  is  levelled 
with  almost  mathematical  exactness,  as  it  is  ne- 
cessary .to  overflow  them  at  particular  periods 
iVom   various  canals  which  intersect  them,   and 
wliich  communicate  with  rivets  whose  waters  arf 


\V 


« 


)A 


i 


K 


m-^. 


■■TV. 


^**%.?t'JU  U.IUIIilllHi 


RVpflh^^^^^nMlnMl 


120 


I        ;'i 


thrown  back  by  the  flowing  of  the  tide.  At  six 
o^ciock  this  morning  I  left  my  hospitable  friend, 
who  sent  me  in  his  carriage  hall-way  back  to 
Charleston,  to  a  spot  where  my  servant  and  horses 
met  me. 

The  few  days  previous  to  this  excursion  had 
been  spent  principally  in  visiting  the  different 
families  with  whom  I  have  already  made  you  ac- 
quainted, and  who  were  particularly  attentive  to 
me.  The  best  society  here,  though  not  very  ex- 
tensive, is  much  superior  to  any  which  I  have  yet 
seen  in  America,  it  consists  of  a  few  old  patrician 
families,  who  form  a  select  circle,  into  which  the 
•^  novi  homines,"  unless  distinguished  by  great  per- 
sonal merit,  tind  it  extremely  diflicult  to  gain  ad- 
mission. Strangers  well  introduced,  and  of  per- 
sonal respectability,  are  received  with  much 
liberality  and  attention.  Many  of  the  old  gentle- 
men were  educated  at  English  colleges,  and  re- 
tain something  of  their  original  attachment  to  the 
mother  country,  notwithstanding  their  sensibility 
to  recent  calumny  and  misrepresentation.  Their 
manners  are  extremely  agreeable,  resembling  the 
more  polished  of  our  country  gentlemen,  and  are 
formed  on  the  model  of  what  in  England  we  call 
••  the  old  schoo?  "  They  are,  however,  the  last  of 
their  generation,  and  will  leave  a  blank  much  to  bo 
deplored  when  they  pass  away.  The  young  ladies 
of  the  patrician  families  are  delicate,  refined,  and 
intelligent,  rather  distant  and  reserved  to  stran- 
gers, but  frank  and  affable  to  those  who  £|re  fami- 
liarly introduced  to  them  by  their  fathers  and 
brothers.     They  go  very  early  into  company,  are 


At  six 

friend, 

back  to 

i  horses 

ion  had 
Jiflferent 
you  ac- 
ntive  to 
very  ex- 
lave  yet 
>atriciaii 
ich  the 
•eat  per- 
jain  ad- 

of  per- 
1    much 

geutle- 
and  re- 
it  to  the 
Dsibiliiy 
Their 
»ling  the 
md  are 

we  call 
e  last  of 
ch  to  be 
ig  ladies 
led,  and 
stran- 
re  fami- 
»rs  and 
iny,  are 


I 


% 


121 


frequently  married  at  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  of 
age,  and  generally  under  twenty,  and  have  retired 
from  the  vortex  of  gay  society,  before  even  the 
fashionable  part  of  my  fair  countrywomen  would 
formerly  have  entered  it.  They  often  lament  that 
the  high  standard  of  manners  to  which  they  have 
been  accustomed,  seems  doomed  to  perish  with 
the  generation  of  their  fathers.  The  fact  is,  that 
the  absence  of  the  privileges  of  primogeniture, 
and  the  repeated  subdivision  of  property,  are 
gradually  etlecting  a  change  in  the  structure  of 
society  in  South  Carolina,  and  will  shortly  efface 
its  most  interesting  arid  characteristic  features. 

I  arrived  at  Charleston  immediately  after  the 
races,  which  are  a  season  of  incessant  gaiety. 
They  usually  take  place  in  February,  when  all  the 
principal  families  visit  their  town-houses  in 
Charleston,  for  three  or  four  weeks,  collecting 
from  their  plantations,  which  are  at  a  distance  of 
from  30  to  150  miles.  During  this  short  interval, 
there  is  a  perpetual  round  of  visits.  About  the 
beginning  of  March,  they  return  to  the  retirement 
of  their  plantations,  often  accompanied  by  the 
strangers  with  whom  they  have  become  acquainted. 
As  a  large  proportion  of  the  plantations  are  in  the 
swamps,  where  a  residence  in  the  summer  months 
would  probably  be  fatal  from  a  fever  of  a  bilious 
nature,  from  which  Ihe  natives  themselves  are  not 
exempt,  the  families  return  about  the  beginning  of 
June,  to  the  city,  where  they  remain  till  the  first 
frost,  which  is  looked  for  with  great  anxiety  to- 
wards October.  They  then  go  back  to  their 
plantations  until  February.  Some  instead  of  com- 


I 


\    ii 


\l 


i^r^-- 


"''^H'W^fv  *— 4 


MMoiW-olMMMMUkawllWUMnnMVWnpMMNIM 


l-'i 


♦         .« 


J 


i»g  into  the  city  in  June,  retire  to  tlie  mountains, 
or  to  the  springs  of  Ballston  and  Saratoga,  in  the 
state  of  New- York,  where  a  large  concourse  of 
persons  assemble  from  every  part  of  the  United 
States  and  from  Canada,  and  by  the  reciprocation 
of  civilities,  and  a  better  acquaintance  with  each 
other,  gradually  lose  their  sectional  and  colonial 
prejudices.  Although  these  springs  are  from  a 
thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  the  South- 
ern States,  the  inhabitants  of  Georgia  and  Caro- 
lina speak  of  them  with  as  much  familiarity  as 
our  Londoners  speak  of  Bath  or  Cheltenham. 
Some  of  the  planters  spend  the  hot  months  ou 
Sullivan^s  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  where 
even  strangers  may  generally  remain  with  impu- 
nity. When  those  who  decide  to  spend  the  sum- 
mer in  the  city  are  once  settled  there,  it  is  consid- 
ered in  the  highest  degree  hazardous  to  sleep  a 
single  night  in  the  country.  The  experiment  is 
sometimes  made,  and  occasionally  with  impunity  : 
but  all  my  informants  concurred  in  assuring  me 
that  fatal  consequences  would  generally  be  ex- 
pected; and  a  most  r'spectable  friend  told  me, 
that  if  his  family  suspected  him  oi'  such  an  inten- 
tion, they  would  almost  attempt  to  prevent  it  by 
actual  force.  The  natives,  however,  may  pass  to 
and  fro  between  the  city  and  Sullivan's  Island 
without  risk.  Of  late  vears  it  has  been  discovered 
that  there  are  certain 'healthy  spots,  even  in  the 
country,  during  the  most  sickly  months.  These 
are  in  the  pine  barrens  at  a  distance  from  the 
swamps.  To  be  safe  in  them  it  is  necessary  that 
the  land  be  as  barren  as  possible,  and  that  not  a 


_^-»'*»»  •  '■  "•>.■' 


i'l.i 

tree  be  cut  clown  except  to  leave  room  lor  the 
house.  Even  a  littk  garden  it  is  considered  would 
eiitail  some  risk.  I  saw  several  of  these  retreats, 
which  are  occupied  by  the  overseers  of  planta- 
tions. 

The  preceding  remarks  respecting  liability  to 
sickness,  apply  to  the  natives,  who,  you  are  aware 
are  generally  exempt  after  the  age  of  from  ten  to 
fifteen  years  from  the  yellow  or  stranger^s  iiever, 
their  apprehensions  being  confined  to  what  they 
term  the  "  country  fever,"  and  "  fever  and  ague." 
With  regard  to  the  yellow  fever,  I  understand  that, 
generally  speaking,  the  probabilities  would  be 
greatly  against  a  stranger  escaping  its  fatal  effects, 
who  should  remain  in  Charleston  or  Savannah 
during  the  sickly  season. 

There  are  two  points  connected  with  the  yel- 
low fever  here,  which  are  subjects  of  animated, 
and  sometimes  angry  controversy:  1st,  Whether 
it  is  contagious ;  and,  2d,  Whether  it  is  imported, 
or  originates  at  home.  With  regard  to  the  first 
point,  I  believe  the  negative  is  supported  by  the 
best  authority.  A  most  intelligent  friend  told  me 
tha^  he  had  slept  in  the  same  bed  with  a  person 
who  had  the  fever  in  the  stage  of  black  vomit, 

without  suiferiiig:    and.  Dr. ,  who  lived  in 

Sir  William  Jones's  family  in  India,  informed  me 
that  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  under  Dr.  Rush,  1 
think  in  1798,  and  attended  the  hospital  where 
upwards  of  5000  patients  were  admitted,  whom  he 
visited  daily,  and  that  he  never  took  the  lever ; 
that  he  once  saw  a  young  man  swallow,  with  im- 
punity, a  tea-spoonful  of  black  vomit,  and  take 


^ 


!'•.' 


124 


(  k 


^    if  a 


f  ( 


arge  quantities  out  of  the  stomachs  of  those  who 
had  died,  and  rub  it  over  his  arms,  and  that  he 
had  seen  the  patients  eject  it  in  large  quantities 
on  the  nurses.  With  respect  to  the  origin  of  the 
fever,  I  believe  the  weight  of  authority,  both  in 
numbers  and  respectability,  is  strongly  against  the 
idea  of  its  being  imported;  but  here  1  am  on  de- 
licate and  uncertain  ground. 

In  passing  through  Charleston,  at  present  so 
animated  and  gay,  and  with  a  climate  at  this  sea- 
son so  delicious  and  so  pure,  it  is  melancholy  to 
think  of  the  stillness  and  desertion  which  will 
soon  pervade  its  streets,  when  the  heats  will 
almost  suspend  all  intercourse  among  the  natives, 
and  when  the  stranger  who  has  been  so  rash  as 
to  remain  in  this  infected  region,  will  move  with 
fearful  and  trembling  steps,  his  imagination  filled 
with  apparitions  of  "  the  pestilence  that  walketh 
in  darkness,"  and  his  heart  sickened  with  the  "de- 
struction which  wasteth  at  noon-day."  Having 
visited  Cadiz  and  Lisbon,  you  are  no  stranger  to 
the  melancholy  tieelings  excited  by  a  view  of  the 
graves  of  our  countrymen  who  have  fallen  victims 
to  an  epidemic  on  a  foreign  shore. 

"  No  voice  ivell  known,  through  many  a  day, 
To  spi'Hk  the.  last,  the  parting  word. 
Which,  when  all  other  sounds  decay. 
Is  still  like  distant  music  heard. 
That  tender  farewell  on  the  shore 
Of  this  wide  world,  when  all  is  oVr, 
Which  cheers  the  spirit,  ere  its  bark 
Puts  off  into  the  unknown  dark." 

But  the  real  plague-spot  of  Charleston,  is  its 
slave  population ;  and  the  mixture  of  gaiety  and 
splendour  with  misery  and  degradation-  is  too  in- 


b'4 


i2:» 


lose  who 
that  he 
uantities 
In  of  the 
both  in 
ainst  the 
n  on  de- 

esent  so 
this  sea- 
icholy  to 
lich  u'ili 
?ats  will 
J  natives, 
rash  as 
)ve  with 
ion  filled 
walketh 
the  "de- 
Having 
anger  to 
w  of  the 
ti  victims 


3n,  is  its 
liety  and 
is  too  in- 


congruous not  to  arrest  the  attention  even  of  the 
superficial.  It  always  reminded  me  of  the  deli- 
cate pink  peach-hlossoms  which  surround  the 
black  hovels  of  the  slaves  on  the  plantations. 

I  shall  never  forget  my  feelings  on  being  present 
for  the  first  time,  at  the  sale  of  human  flesh, 
which  took  place  here  in  a  public  street  through 
which  I  was  passing  the  other  day.  Turning 
from  a  fashionable  promenade,  enlivened  by  gay 
parties  and  glittering  equipages,  I  came  suddenly 
in  sight  of  at  least  80  or  100  Negroes  sitting  on  a 
large  heap  of  paving-stones;  some  with  most 
melancholy  and  disconsolate  faces,  and  others 
with  an  air  of  vacancy  and  apathy,  apparently 
insensible  to  what  was  passing  around  them. 
Several  merchants  and  planters  were  walking 
about,  examining  the  unhappy  creatures  who  were 
to  be  offered  for  sale.  A  poor  woman,  apparent- 
ly about  28  years  of  age,  with  a  child  at  her 
breast,  her  two  little  boys  from  four  to  six  years 
old,  and  her  little  girl  about  eight,  composed  the 
first  lot.  They  were  mounted  on  a  platform,  (with 
the  auctioneer,)  taking  hold  of  each  other's  hands, 
and  the  little  boys  looking  up  at  their  mothers 
face  with  an  air  of  curiosity,  as  if  they  wondered 
what  could  make  her  look  so  sad.  The  mother 
then  spoke  a  few  words  in  a  faltering  voice  to  the 
auctioneer,  who  repeated  them  aloud,  in  which 
she  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  be  purchased  by 
some  one  who  lived  near  Charleston,  instead  of 
being  sent  to  a  distant  plantation.  They  were 
then  put  up  like  cattle,  with  all  the  ordinary 
auction  slang,  and  finally  knocked  down    at  350 


lasaKMta 


Ivfr 


I-J6 


dollars  round.  As  soon  as  they  came  down  Ironi 
the  platform,  many  of  the  iNegroes  crowded  around 
the  mother,  inquiring  if  she  knew  who  had  bought 
her,  or  whither  she  was  going:  but,  alas !  all  that 
she  knew  of  her  future  destiny  was,  that  a  new 
owner  had  obtained  possession  of  her  and  her 
offspring  for  3/)0  dollars  each.  I  could  not  stay  to 
see  the  repetition  of  the  hateful  process  on  the 
person  of  a  iield-iabourer,  who  composed  the 
next  lot,  and  who  appeared  depressed  and  deject- 
ed beyond  what  1  had  conceived.  The  melan- 
choly feelings  with  which  1  quitted  this  scene 
were  not  diminished  by  the  reflection,  that  it  was 
my  country  which  tirst  transported  the  poor  Afri- 
can to  these  western  shores;  that  it  was  when 
they  were  the  shores  of  a  British  colony  that  sla- 
very was  first  introduced,  by  British  ships,  British 
capital,  and  with  the  sanction  and  encouragement 
of  a  British  parliament.  Would  that  I  could  for- 
get that  in  a  single  year  (1753)  no  less  than 
30,000  slaves  were  introduced  into  America  by 
a  hundred  and  one  vessels  belonging  to  Liverpool 
alone ;  and  that  the  efforts  of  many  of  the  Ameri- 
can states  to  abolish  the  importation  of  slaves, 
were  long  defeated  by  the  royal  negative  which 
^vas  put  on  those  acts  of  the  colonial  legislature 
which  had  for  their  sole  object  the  extinction  of 
the  slave  Trade;  and  that  Burke  was  but  too 
well  justified  in  stating  in  parliament,  that  *^  the 
refusal  of  America  to  deal  any  more  in  the  inhu- 
man traffic  of  Negro  slaves,  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  her  quarrel  with  Great  Britain  !"  Would  that  1 
could  forget  that  if  America  has  still  her  slave- 


ry -t 


127 


holding  states,  we  free   Brilons   have  also    our 
slave-holding  colonies ;  and   that  in  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other  has  one  step  yet  been  taken  to- 
wards the  emancipation,  however  remote,  of  the 
injured  Africans  !   Do  not  think  me  insane  enough 
to  overlook  the  diHicuit  part  of  this  subject.     I  am 
insensible  neither  to  the  consideration  due  to  those 
whose  pioperty  is  invested  under  legislative  sanc- 
tions, nor  to  the  cruelty  of  liberating  slaves  till  they 
are  prepared  for  freedom;  but  surely    no    men, 
much  less  a  freeborn  Briton   or  an  American  re- 
publican, can  rest  satisfied  in  the  horrible  conclu- 
sion that  slavery  is.  to  be  regarded  in  any  region 
of  the  globe,  as  necessary,  irremediable,  hopeless, 
and  perpetual.     The  time  1  hope  is  not  far  distant 
when  a  better  order  of  things  will  prevail  in  this 
respect,  even  where  the  prospects   are  now  the 
darkest;  when  this  blot  will  be  eflfiiced  for  ever 
from  the  fair  creation  of  that  common  parent  who 
'•  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  for 
to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth."     Everyday 
are  the  horrors  of  slavery  rendered  more  appa- 
rent by  contrast  with  the  free   institutions  which 
are  rising  on  every  side  in  its  immediate  vicinity, 
and  by  the  brighter  light  which  the  diffusion  of 
the  Gospel  is  shedding  over  the  globe.    Every  day 
does  slavery  become  more  abhorrent  from  the  com- 
mon feelings  of  Christian  communities,  and  more 
inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  times.     Thus 
by  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  benevolent  atten- 
tion which  is  now  attracted  towards  this  subject, 
which  will  give  birth  to  suggestions,  plans,  and 
experiments  in  different  quarters  of  the  globe. 


kl 


SSSga 


\'2ii 


!♦« 


1    v/  ll 


r 


every  thing  is  to  be  hoped.  But  1  tbrgel  hovv 
long  a  letter  I  am  sending  you,  and  yet  I  cannot 
resist  the  temptation  of  copying  for  you  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  extract  from  Humboldt^s  tra- 
vels. 

'*  We  observed  with  a  lively  interest  the  great 
number  of  scattered  houses  in  the  valley  inhabited 
by  freedmen.  In  the  Spanish  colonies,  the  institu- 
tions and  the  manners  are  more  favourable  to  the 
liberty  of  the  Blacks  than  in  the  other  European 
settlements.  In  all  theire  excursions  we  were  agree- 
ably surprised,  not  only  at  the  progress  of  agricul- 
ture, but  the  increase  of  a  few  laborious  popula- 
tion accustomed  to  toil,  and  too  poor  to  rely  on 
the  assistance  of  slaves.  White  and  Black  farmers 
had  every  where  small  separate  eslabiishments. 
Our  host,  whose  father  had  a  revenue  iif  40,000 
piastres,  possessing  more  lands  than  he  could 
clear,  he  distributed  them  in  the  valley  of  Aragua 
among  poor  families  who  chose  to  apply  them- 
selves to  the  cultivation  of  cotton.  He  endea- 
voured to  surround  his  amp^e  plantations  with 
freemen,  who,  working  as  they  chose,  either  on 
their  own  land  or  in  the  neighbouring  plantations, 
supplied  him  with  day-labourers  at  the  time  of 
harvest.  Nobly  occupied  on  the  means  best 
adapted  generally  to  extinguish  the  slavery  of  the 
Blacks  in  these  colonies.  Count  Torur  flattered 
himself  with  the  double  hope  of  rendering  slaves 
less  necessary  to  the  landholders,  and  furnishing 
the  freedmen  with  opportunities  of  becoming 
farmers.  On  departing  for  Europe  he  had  parcel- 
led out,  and  let  a  part  of  the  lands  of  Cura.   Four 


ilt- 


I -J!* 


Years  after,  at  Wn*  rrturn  to  Amrrica,  lir  Ibiirid  on 
this  spot,  finely  cultivated  in  cotton,  a  little  hamlet 
of  thirty  or  forty  houses,  which  is  called   Punta 
Zamuro,  and   which  we  afterwards  visited   with 
him.      The  inhabitants  of  this  hamlet  are  nearly 
all  Mulattoes,  Zumboes,  or  free  Blacks.      This 
example  of  letting  out  land  has  been  happily  fol- 
lowed by  other  great  proprietors.     The  rent  is 
ten  piastres  for  a  vanega  of  ground,  and  is  paid 
in  money  or  in  cotton.     As  the  small  farmers  are 
often  in  want,  they  sell  their  cotton   at  a   very 
moderate  price.      They  sell   it  even   before  the 
harvest;    and  the  advances  thus  made  by    rich 
neighbours,  place  the  debtor  in  a  state  of  depend- 
ence, which  frequently  obliges  him  to  offer  his 
services  as  a  labourer.     The  price  of  labour  is 
cheaper  here  than  in  France.      A  freeman  work- 
ing as  a  day-labourer  (Peor)  is  paid  in  the  valleys 
of  Aragua  and  in  the  Llanos  four  or  five  piastres  a 
month,  not  including  food,  which  is  very  cheap 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  meat  and  ve- 
getables.     [    love   to  dwell  on  these  details  of 
colonial  industry,  because  they  prove  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Europe,  what  to  the  enlightened  in- 
habitants of  the  colonies  has  long  ceased  to    be 
doubtful,  that  the  continent  of  Spanish  America 
can  produce  sugar  and  indigo  by  free  hands,  and 
that  the  unhappy  slaves  are  capable  of  becoming 
peasants,  farmers,  and  landholders." 
I  am  sure  you  will  thank  me  for  this  extract. 


17 


■■■ 


■p^paPH 


I  M\ 


LKTIEW  XIII. 


i'  ■    i 


i]- 


Mohilf,  on  thf  Gulf  of  Mexico,  '6d  Ai>rU,  Mid. 

It  was  with  much  regret  that  I  left  several  kind 
and  interesting  lncnd»  whom  I  had  met  with  at 
(y'harleston.  Our  last  day  there  was  Sunday  ;  and 
the  diminution  of  carriages  at  the  church  door 
evinced  that  the  fashionable  society  was  dispers- 
ing, and  that  many  families  had  already  retired  to 
their  plantationsafterthe  races.  The  placesof  wor- 
ship appeared  well  filled ;  but  many  of  the  streets 
were  noisy,  and  exhibited  as  little  of  a  Sabbath 
scene  as  Hyde  Park  or  Piccadilly.  I  was  told  also 
that  gambling  was  going  on  to  a  great  extent,  in  a 
detached  building  belonging  to  the  hotel  where  I 
was  stay  ing;  but  as  I  have  sometimes  heard  the  same 
rumour  when  staying  at  the  York  House  in  Bath, 
or  an  hotel  in  the  west  of  London,  let  us  hope  (if 
we  can)  that  it  was  in  both  cases,  a  libellous  re- 
port. I  was  pleased  to  see  the  slaves  apparently 
enjoying  themselves  on  this  day  in  their  best 
attire,  and  was  astonished  in  observing  the  efforts 
they  make  to  preserve  as  a  body  that  self-respect 
which  they  know  is  not  felt  for  them  by  their  pro- 
prietors. They  generally  use  Sir  and  Madam  in 
addressing  each  other,  make  the  most  formal  and 
particular  inquiries  after  each  other's  families. 
They  frequently  adopt  the  names  of  the  families 
in  which  they  live.  Thus,  the  principal  male  ser- 
vant in  Col.  F.'s  family,  is  Col.  F. ;,  the  principal 
female  servant,  Mrs.  F. ;  while  half  a  dozen  Miss 
F.'s  will  give  their  names  to  as  many  chamber- 


ii      i  I 


-m 


\M 


inaidH,  irthev  have  them.  In  iho  evpiiiiii;  I  visil- 
ed  the  prison,  as  1  have  done  in  most  towns  wherf 
I  had  the  opportunity;  but  the  turnkey  was  in- 
toxicated, and  1  could  obtain  little  int'ormatiofi  as 
to  the  general  plan  of  management.  The  prison- 
ers, I  understood  from  an  assistant,  have  a  liberal 
allowance  of  meat,  bread,  and  broth  daily ;  but 
no  work,  and  no  instruction  except  from  occa- 
sional visits  of  the  clergy,  of  whom  the  Black 
ministers  are  the  most  assiduou-^.  I  saw  one 
earnestly  engaged  in  prayer  with  the  Black  pri- 
soners, one  of  whom  was  just  committed  for  the 
murder  of  his  master.  The  Black  are  separated 
from  the  White  prisoners,  the  male  from  the  fe- 
male, the  greater  from  the  lesser  crirainali?.  I  saw 
and  conversed  with  the  murderer  of  Dr.  Ramsay, 
the  historian.  I  was  told  that  the  crime  occur- 
red under  the  following  circumstances.  The  man 
having  shot  a  lawyer  whom  he  had  retained  on 
some  business.  Dr.  Ramsay  had  given  evidence 
that  he  was  insane ;  which  the  maniac  learning, 
watched  an  opportunity,  and  shot  him  also.  He 
has  been  confined  in  prison  ever  since,  and  is  a 
pitiable  object.  If  you  are  as  well  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  Mrs.  Ramsay  as,  from  its 
uncommon  excellence,  1  hope  you  are,  you  will 
be  interested  by  this  allusion  to  her  husband.  !f 
vou  have  never  met  with  her  "  Memoirs,"  let  me 

ft  ' 

entreat  you  to  forego  no  longer  the  gratification 
and  improvfoient  you  can  hardly  fail  to  derive 
from  them  They  exhibit  a  character  which  will 
not  shrink  trom  a  comparison  with  that  of  the 
most  eminent   female  (christians  of  any  age  or 


i 


>Mbi 


M„l„„lggf,l,„iitl,i^f^j^^^ 


I  :i2 


t   t/ 


fe    /!> 


<l 


i   ( 


country.  Her  father,  Colonel  Laurens,  was  Pre- 
sident of  the  Congress  during  the  revolutionary 
war;  and  it  is  delightful  to  read  the  liberal  and 
pacitic  sentiments  which  his  letters  to  his  daugh- 
ter breathe  at  the  very  moment  when  his  planta- 
tions were  overrun  by  the  British  soldiery,  and 
the  lives  of  himself  and  his  family  were  in  immi- 
nent danger.  Surely  it  would  tend  greaily  to  in- 
crease our  detestation  of  war  and  all  its  outrages, 
if  we  allowed  our  imagination  to  dwell  more  oii 
the  friendly  sentiments  which  the  liberal  and 
Christian  part  of  hostile  nations  often  feel  towards 
each  other,  at  the  very  moment  when  public  ani- 
mosity and  fury  rage  the  loudest.  In  1776,  Colo- 
nel Laurens  writes  from  Charleston,  to  his  daugh- 
ter, then  in  England — 

"  Act  your  part  well,  my  dear :  love  God,  and 
all  things  will  work  together  for  your  good.  It  is 
melancholy  to  see  the  abuse  of  many  good  houses 
in  this  town,  which  are  now  made  barracks  for 
the  country  militia,  who  strip  the  paper-hangings, 
chop  wood  upon  parlour  floors,  and  do  a  thousand 
improper  acts.  The  men  of  war  at  Georgia  have 
swept  Mr.  Arthur  Middleton's  plantation,  upon 
Savannah  river,  of  about  sixty-five  Negroes. — 
Wright's  savannah  is  within  three  or  four  miles 
of  it ;  probably  some  solitary  escaping  man  may 
come  within  two  or  three  days  to  inform  me  of 
like  mischiefs  done  there,  and  at  Altamaha,  by 
those  Sabeans  and  Chaldeans,  Be  it  so,  I  will 
say.  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.  We  must 
expect  a  visit  from  the  British  very  soon.  In 
these  circninstances  every  man  here   holds    his 


.   n 


I  Mi 


lile  by  llie  most  precarious  tenure;,  and  our  trierxls 
abroad  should  prepare  themselves  ibr  learnins; 
that  we  are  numbered  with  the  dead.  You  will 
in  silence  submit  the  future  progress  and  final  de- 
termination of  events  to  the  wise  order  of  that 
superintending  Being  who  holds  the  scales  of 
justice  in  his  hand.  Your  part  will  be  to  join 
with  the  sons  and  daughters  of  piety,  and  pray  in- 
cessantly for  peace:  peace  to  all  the  world,  es- 
pecially the  country  in  which  you  reside,  (Eng- 
land,) and  that  to  which  you  more  particularly 
belong;  and  you  \\i\\  lament  that  it  is  your  la- 
ther's unhappy  lot  to  be  engaged  in  war,  in  civil 
war,  God's  severest  scourge  upon  mankind." 

These  sentiments  are  worthy  a  Christian  father 
when  addressing  his  Christian  child;  and  cold 
and  base  must  be  that  heart  which  could  feel 
hostile  to  an  enemy  who  could  breathe  them  at 
such  a  moment  of  sullering  and  irritation. 

We  set  out  from  Charleston  on  the  28th  F'eb- 
ruary,  and  arrived  at  Savannah  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  29th,  travelling  all  night,  and  completing 
in  the  mailstaga  1 10  miles  in  twenty-seven  hours. 
On  mounting  our  sorry  vehicle,  we  found  our 
equipage  reduced  to  a  peace  establishment  of  two 
horses,  and  our  stages  were  occasionally  thirty 
miles  long.  We  saw  nothing  particularly  interest- 
ing in  our  route  except  the  cotton  plantations, 
where  the  Negroes  were  hard  at  work  under  a 
broiling  sun  and  a  driver's  lash.  Experience  ha(] 
taught  us  not  to  trust  to  this  deceitful  climalfj ; 
and  we  found  all  our  sea  coats  insufficient  to  pro- 
tect us  against  the  excebsivo  cold  of  the  night.    Tu 


M 


m    \ 


M  h  m 


ID  5|;,  I 


passing  through  the  swamps,  we  were  euvelopeci 
in  a  thick  mist,  which,  in  summer,  must  be  highly 
dangerous.  Indeed  our  driver  told  us  that  on 
two  stages  on  this  road  last  autumn,  they  lost  dve 
drivers,  who  fell  a  sacrifice  to  fever.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night  I  heard  the  howling  of  wolves, 
and  when  walking  before  the  stage,  as  we  ap- 
proached Savannah,  I  started  an  ali.^ator  about 
six  yards  from  me,  which  plunged  off'  the  road 
into  some  water.  It  was  then  as  intensely  hot  as 
it  had  been  cold  a  few  nights  before. 

Savannah  is  situated  on  a  river  of  the  same 
name,  and  is  laid  out  in  long  and  very  broad 
streets,  which  meet  at  right  angles,  and  are  lined 
with  trees  called  "  The  Pride  of  India.''  Tt^ese 
trees  are  great  favourites  with  the  inhabitants ; 
but  they  are  too  strongly  associated  in  my  mind 
with  yellow  fever,  to  be  agreeable.  The  streets 
are  unpaved  :  and  except  in  the  middle  path, 
which  is  a  heavy  disagreeable  sand,  they  are 
covered  with  grass.  The  horses,  as  in  most  of 
the  towns  in  the  south,  are  unshod. 

The  late  fire  has  given  the  town  a  most  deso- 
late appearance,  yet  the  inhabitants  are  most  un- 
wittingly running  up  wooden  houses  again  with 
great  rapidity.  Fires  are  continually  occurring 
in  this  country.  A  large  one  happened  while  I 
was  at  Savannah  ;  another  at  Charleston ;  and  we 
had  a  serious  alarm  at  Washington.  Brick  hous- 
es, however,  are  daily  becoming  more  common. 
Iti  Charleston  a  person  is  stationed  every  night  on 
♦he  steeple  of  one  of  the  churches,  to  watch  and 
j/ive  the  alarm  in  case  of  fire,  as  the  inhabitants 


I  :i:> 


are  never  free  from  the  npprelmisioii  of  an  insurreciiau 
of  the  Slaves  in  the  confusion  of  a  premeditated  or  ac- 
cidental conflagration.  The  |j>'e  fire  in  Savannah 
produced  many  instances  of  individual  generosity, 
as  well  as  proofs  of  general  liberality  in  the  other 
States.  A  letter  of  the  Mayor,  returning  the  New- 
Vork  contribution,  of  nearly  3000/.  because  it  was 
accompanied  with  a  request  that  it  might  be  im- 
partially distributed  among  the  Black  and  White 
sufferers,  a  request  which  imphed  a  reflection 
which  the  southerners  resented,  was  not  general- 
ly approved.  It  shows,  however,  very  strongly 
the  sensitive  state  of  lieeling  on  the  subject  of  sla- 
very between  the  Northern  and  Southern  States. 

Of  the  society  at  Savannah  I  saw  little,  except 
of  the  merchants  in  their  counting-houses ;  and, 
after  spending  a  short  time  at  an  extensive  rice 
plantation  in  the  neighbourhood,  I  set  off  in  the 
stage  for  Augusta  on  the  11th.  My  servant  had 
gone  forward  the  preceding  day,  when  the  stage 
was  filled  with  gamblers  returning  in  ill  humour 
from  Savannah,  where  the  inhabitants,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  recent  calamity,  had  decided  that 
there  should  be  no  races. 

In  proceeding  from  the  coast  to  Augusta,  200 
miles  in  the  interior,  we  pass  for  forty  or  fifty  miles 
along  a  level  plain ;  the  greater  part  of  which  is 
covered  with  lofty  forests  of  pine,  oak,  elm,  tulip, 
plane,  and  walnut.  About  one  third  of  this  plain 
consists  of  immense  swamps,  which,  interlocking 
with  each  other,  form  part  of  a  long  chain  which 
stretches  for  several  hundred  miles  along  the 
coast  of  Georgia  and   tlie  Carolinas.  j)ejietrating 


i;{(i 


!  t: 


'.  { 


/  4 


Irom  ten  to  thirty  miles  into  the  interior.  In  these 
swamps,  in  addition  to  the  trees  above  men- 
tioned, you  meet  with  cypress  trees  of  an  enor- 
mous growth,  beech,  maple,  the  magnolia  grandi- 
flora,  azaleas,  andromedas,  stalmins,  and  a 
variety  of  flowering  shrubs,  whose  names  I 
would  send  you  if  I  were  a  botanist.  Soon  after 
leaving  the  plain,  you  reach  what  are  called  the 
Sandhills,  200  to  300  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  when  extensive  forest  plains  and  green  savan- 
nahs, and  occasional  ascents  of  more  or  less  ab- 
rupt elevation,  succeed  each  other,  until  you  ap- 
proach Augusta.  There  you  find  yourself  sur- 
rounded by  immense  cotton  plantations,  and  all 
*  the  pomp  and  circumstance"  of  commerce;  carts 
coming  in  from  the  country  with  cotton,  and 
crowding  the  streets,  or  rather  avenues,  of  this 
rural  town;  tradesmen  and  agents  bustling  about 
in  different  directions  ;  wharves  loaded  with  bales; 
and  steam-boats  darkening  the  air  with  their  black 
exhalations.  At  the  hotel  where  I  lodged,  there 
were  seventy  persons  daily  at  table ;  but  Gener- 
al   ,  who  was  there  with   his  lady   and  staffi 

gave  me  a  polite  invitation  to  join  his  party,  of 
which  I  occasionally  availed  myself.  On  the  13th, 
I  went  to  visit  a  very  extensive  and  opulent  cot- 
ton planter,  a  few  miles  from  Augusta.  I  found 
him  quite  alone,  having  come  from  Charleston  to 
superintend  his  plantation  for  two  or  three  weeks. 
He  was  a  mile  or  two  from  home  when  I  arrived, 
and  a  little  Slave  was  sent  to  help  me  to  find  him 
in  the  woods.  As  the  little  fellow  walked  by  the 
side  of  my  horse,  I  asked  him  if  there  was  any 
church  that  the  Slaves  aitended  on  Sunday.     He 


137 


said  no,  there  was  none  rietir  eiioiigii,  and  he  liad 
never  seen  one.  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  where 
people  went  to  when  they  died,  and  was  mnch  af- 
iiected  by  the  simple,  earnest  look  with  which  he 
pointed  to  the  sky,  as  he  replied,  "  To  Fader 
dere." 

I  remained  with  my  host  till  the  following  day, 
and  found  him  very  sensible  and  intelligent,  and 
full  of  information  with  respect  (o  the  present  and 
former  state  of  the  country.  I  enjoyed  my  icte-d- 
/(5/c  visit  greatly ;  although  the  side-saddles  whicli 
I  saw  in  the  log-stable,  and  the  ladies'  names  in 
the  books  which  composed  the  little  library,  oc- 
casionally seduced  my  imagination  from  our  dis- 
quisitions on  the  expense  of  producing  rice  and 
cotton,  to  the  reading  and  riding  parties  which 
Were  to  give  interest  and  animation  to  tliese  sylvan 
solitudes  as  soon  as  the  summer  should  drive  the 
female  part  of  the  family  from  the  city.  The  fact 
is,  this  residence  is  a  wooden  house  with  a  conve- 
nient establishment,  erected  in  one  of  the  healthy 
spots  which  1  have  described  as  occasionally 
found  in  the  pine  barrens;  and,  although  there 
appeared  to  be  only  just  room  for  the  house  to 
stand,  my  host  was  regretting  that  a  few  trees  had 
been  unnecessarily  cut  down  in  his  absence,  and 
he  had  planted  others  in  their  room.  I  observed 
too  that  the  vegetable  matter  under  the  trees  was 
carefully  raked  together,  in  order  to  be  removed: 
and  with  these  precautions  my  host  told  me  his 
family  were  able  to  sperul  the  summer  months 
tiiere,  while  others  were  driven  to  town.  He 
said  if  I  would  come  back  in  the  summer,  instead 

18 


¥ 


HiS^ 


gtssij^^ii^ 


J  Mi 


I    u 


Bl;  ; 


*  t. 


v) 


oi  (Jniiing  liirii  an  old  baclielor,  I  should  see  him 
with  a  merry  family  of  twelve  or  fifteen  young 
people  about  him.  Scenes  like  these  have  great- 
ly impressed  my  mind  with  the  equitable  charac- 
ter of  the  arrangements  of  Divine  Providence  as 
respects  soil,  climate,  and  similar  allotments,  in 
which  good  and  bad,  convenience  and  incori.e- 
nience,  are  usually  blended  ;  and  also  to  recon- 
cile me  to  the  atmospherical  vicissitudes  of  Old 
England,  where,  if  we  have  not  the  bright  sky 
and  luscious  fruits  of  some  of  the  south-western 
parts  of  the  United  States,  neither  have  we  pine 
barrens  and  jungle  exhalations  winged  with  fever, 
and  putrescency,  and  death. 

After  purchasing  a  couple  of  horses  for  myself 
and  my  servant,  I  left  Augusta  on  the  17th,  with 
the  intention  of  proceeding  overland  to  Mobile  or 
New-Orleans.  We  were  a  little  disconcerted,  on 
rising  early  that  morning,  to  find  the  rain  falling  in 
torrents.  As  it  cleared  up,  however,  about  twelve 
o'clock,  we  determined  to  set  out ;  and  with  our 
long-tailed  grays,  our  saddle-bags,  our  blankets, 
and  our  pistols,  we  made,  I  assure  you,  no  despi- 
cable appearance.  After  travelling  about  twen- 
ty-eight miles,  we  stopped  for  the  night  at  Mrs. 
Harris's  tavern,  a  small  country  inn  by  the  way 
side.  Two  female  Negroes  were  hand-picking 
cotton  by  the  kitchen  fire,  where  I  took  my  seat, 
till  I  was  unexpectedly  invited  to  another  room, 
where  a  fire  had  been  made  for  me.  The  first 
question  my  landlady  asked  me  was  the  price  ol" 
cotton  at  Augusta ;  a  question  which  was  eager- 
ly   repeated   wherever   I   stopped.     Indeed,   the 


■■-<....  ipr^'^yf" 


1 .19 


fluctuations  in  this  article  catne  lion»e  to  "  tli«» 
business  and  bosoms"  of  the  poorest  family,  since 
every  one  is  concerned  more  or  less  in  its  culti- 
vation. While  my  hostess  poured  out  my  coffee, 
I  asked  her  if  there  were  any  s'^hools  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. She  said,  Oh,  yes ;  that  there  was  an 
academy  to  which  her  daughter  went  when  cotton 
was  thirty  cents  per  pound  ;  that  she  paid  three 
hundred  dollars. per  annum  simply  for  board,  and 
fifty  more  for  learning  the  pt-a-no  !  but  that,  as  cot- 
ton had  fallen  to  fifteen  cents,  she  could  not  af- 
ford to  buy  an  instrument,  and  supposed  her 
daughter  must  forget  her  music.  I  could  not  help 
thinking  of  the  farmer  Mrs.  Hannah  More  men- 
tions in  her  last  work,  who  said  he  had  "  French- 
ed  his  daughter,  and  musicked  her,  and  was  now 
sending  her  to  Paris." 

We  set  off  at  six  o'clock  the  next  morning,  and 
went  twelve  miles  to  breakfast.  Here,  as  usual, 
I  found  several  books  on  the  chimney-piece; 
among  which  were  a  Bible,  a  Testament,  a  Hymn- 
book,  a  book  of  Geography,  Rett's  Elements, 
Lord  Byron's  Poems,,  and  the  Life  of  Harriet  New- 
ell,— the  last  of  which  1  found,  from  a  note  in  a 
blank  page,  was  a  gift  from  the  minister  of  the 
neighbourhood  to  the  landlord's  wife.  I  mention 
these  books,  as  they  form  a  sort  of  average  of 
those  which  you  generally  find  lying  about  in  the 
country  inns,  and  which  are  frequently  merely 
stragglers  from  no  despicable  library  in  the  land- 
lord's bed-room.  A  pleasing  young  woman,  the 
innkeeper's  wife,  sate  down  to  make  breakfast 
ibr  me ;  and  I  greatly  enjoyed  this  quiet  tcte-n-tcle 


hi 


'   / 


m 


i  i 


w 


¥•?■ 


*      1  10 

in  the  counlry,  alter  the  promiscuous  assemblage 
of  sixty  or  seventy  persons  at  the  taverns  in  the 
towns.  In  stopping  to  breakfast,  however,  in  the 
Southern  States,  you  must  never  calculate  on  a 
detention  of  less  than  two  hours,  as  your  enter- 
tainers will  prepare  dishes  of  meat  or  poultry  for 
you,  and  both  make  and  bake  the  bread  after 
your  arrival. 

In  the  evening,  about  five  o'c'  ,  after  travel- 
ling thirty-three  miles,  we  arrived  at  Mr.  Shi- 
rens's,  a  neat  quiet  house,  on  the  Ogechee  river. 
Mr.  .Shirens  is  a  cotton  planter,  a  miller,  a  farmer, 
and  an  innkeeper.  I  took  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  him,  which  secured  me  a  good  reception.  As 
the  following  day  was  Sunday,  I  remained  with 
this  good  John  Anderson  and  his  help-meet,  and 
their  two  generations  of  children,  till  Monday, 
>Hit  was  disappointed  to  find  there  would  be  no 
service  at  their  church.  The  minister  preaches 
three  Saturdays  and  Sundays  at  three  churches  a 
few  miles  distant ;  but,  on  the  fourth,  which  was 
unfortunately  the  case  when  I  was  there,  he  is 
beyond  their  limits.  I  found  out,  however,  a  Ne- 
gro congregation,  who  were  to  assemble  in  the 
woods,  of  which  I  have  already  sent  an  account. 
In  returning  from  the  spot  where  we  had  assem- 
bled, I  passed  the  church,  where,  as  is  usual  on 
those  Sundays  on  which  there  is  no  service,  there 
was  a  meeting  of  the  young  persons  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, for  tlie  purpose  of  singing  psalms.  I 
did  not  join  them,  but  counted  ninety-five  horses 
under  the  trees,  nearly  one  half  of  them  withside- 
caddles:  and  yet  the  country,  in  passing  through 


•       fl 


'    V 


-   ■■*<^      ■  .-«#■-"*■     «»v^ 


Ill 


il.  fioemed  bv  no  means  tliicklv  setllcd.  our  road 
being  on  a  pine  ridge ;  but  the  Americans,  al- 
though enterprising  and  migratory,  have  a  great 
aversion  to  walking. 

In  the  evening  three  rough  back-woodsmen  ar- 
rived from  the  Mississippi  with  a  wretched  ac- 
count of  the  roads  ;  the  bridges  over  the  creeks 
having  been  almost  all  washed  away,  and  the 
swamps  being  nearly  impassable.  Their  horses 
were  quite  exhausted ;  and  they  strongly  urged 
me  not  to  attempt  the  expedition.  Had  1  seen 
them  before  1  set  out,  I  should  probably  have  been 
discouraged,  as  they  appeared  to  be  hardy,  reso- 
lute, and  experienced  foresters ;  but  1  was  now 
determined  that  nothing  but  very  formidable  ob- 
stacles should  induce  us  to  return.  Heavy  rains 
prevented  our  proceeding  till  eight  o'clock  the 
following  morning;  but  we  arrived  at  Milledge- 
ville,  the  capital  of  Georgia,  at  half  past  five 
o'clock,  thirty-six   miles,  after  spending  half  an 

hour  with  Governor ,  who  has  a  good  house 

a  iew  miles  distant.  We  found  with  him  two  tra- 
vellers, quite  exhausted,  who  told  us  tha*  for  ma- 
ny days  they  had  to  swim  their  horses  over  most 
of  the  flooded  creeks  on  the  road  which  we  were 
going.  The  Governor  said  that  the  freshets  had 
not  been  so  great  since  the  celebrated  Yayoo 
freshet,  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  From  my 
window  at  the  inn  at  Milledgeville  I  saw  the  re- 
mains of  a  bridge  which  broke  down  a  fortnight 
since  with  a  waggon  and  six  horses  upon  it,  all  of 
which  were  lost.     The    Oconee  is  here   nearlv 


\l-2 


N 

';!■ 

.,,ii' 


i 


If' 


i 


iii 


!;' 


twice  as    broad   as  the  Lune    under  Lancastei* 
Bridge. 

At  Milledgeville  there  is  a  very  handsome  pri- 
son or  penitentiary,  which  would  do  credit  even 
to  Gloucester;  but  the  critical  situation  of  the 
flooded  creeks  rendered  it  imprudent  to  stay  to 
inspect  it.  And  here  I  recollect  that  I  omitted  to 
mention,  that  in  the  Charleston  and  Savannah 
jails,  besides  numerous  pirates,  there  were  many 
slaves  in  confinement  for  not  giving  their  masters 
the  wages  they  had  earned.  In  order  that  you 
may  understand  this,  it  is  necessary  to  tell  you, 
that  when  a  person  has  more  Negroes  than  he  can 
employ,  he  frequently  either  lets  them  out  on  hire, 
or  sends  them  to  seek  employment,  bringing  him 
a  proportion  of  what  they  earn.  Sometimes  he 
will  set  them  to  obtain  for  him  a  certain  sum  per 
week,  and  allow  them  to  keep  the  remainder. 
You  will  be  surprised  to  learn,  that  children  who 
are  thus  situated,  generally  prefer  chimney  sweep- 
ing, as  they  can  earn  more  by  this  than  by  any 
other  employment ;  at  least,  so  I  was  informed  at 

Mr. ^s  plantation,  while  reading  to  the  ladies 

after  supper  the  miseries  of  climbing  boys  in  Eng- 
land, in  the  last  Edinburgh  Review, — not  indeed 
to  reconcile  them  to  the  miseries  of  slavery,  but 
partly  to  show  them  that  we  do  not  expend  all 
our  critical  castigation  on  their  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic. This  choice  of  the  children  does  not  speak 
much  for  slavery,  in  which  chimney-sweeping  is 
an  object  of  competition,  in  order,  perhaps,  to 
avoid  the  stripes  which  would  ensue  if  the  re- 
quired sum   was  not  earned  and  paid  in  to  the 


I  4.{ 


iriKster.  iStill  ihe  system  orallowiria;  tlie  Slaves  to 
select  their  own  work,  and  to  look  out  tor  em- 
pioyment  for  themselves,  notwithstanding  the  fre- 
quent hardship  and  injustice  attending  it,  is  a 
great  step  toward  emancipation,  and  an  admira- 
ble preparative  for  it ;  and  may  we  not  regard  it 
as  one  of  tlie  avenues  through  which  the  African 
will  ultimately  emerge  from  his  degraded  condi- 
tion, and  arrive  at  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  violat- 
ed rights.  Surely  the  warmest  and  most  prejudi- 
ced advocates  oi' perpetual  slavery  will  not  contend 
that  a  man  who  is  capable  of  taking  care  of  his 
family  while  compelled  to  pay  his  owner  a  premi- 
um for  permission  to  do  so,  will  become  less  com- 
petent to  manage  his  concerns  when  exonerated 
from  the  tax,  or  that  he  will  relax  in  his  efforts  to 
improve  his  condition,  because  a  stranger  no  long- 
er divides  with  him  the  fruit  of  his  toil.  Experi- 
ence will  doubtless  prove  that  slavery  is  a  state 
which  cannot  very  long  consist  with  a  general  dif- 
fusion of  that  consciousness  of  their  own  strength 
with  which  the  habit  of  self-dependence  will  in- 
spire the  Negroes,  and  which,  when  combined 
with  a  large  numerical  superiority,  must  ensure 
ultimate  success  to  their  struggles  for  freedom. 
Earnestly  is  it  to  be  hoped,  that  long  before  the 
arrival  of  such  a  crisis,  the  humanity  and  justice, 
or,  if  not,  the  self-interest,  of  the  master  will  spare 
all  parties  the  horrors  usually  attendant  on  such 
struggles,  by  laying  the  foundation  for  a  safe  and 
beneticiai  emancipation. 

We  left  IVlilledgeville  at  eight  o'clock,  on  the 
2 1st,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Hawkins,  32  miles  dis- 


rT»' 


'\ 


w 


*  V 


III 

tanl,  at  I  o'clock  in  the  aftoniooii.  In  the  courstf 
of  the  day,  we  passed  several  settlements,  and  oc- 
casionally our  eyes  were  regaled  with  a  lew  acres 
of  peach  trees  in  full  hlossom.  The  cleared  land, 
however,  seldom  extended  into  the  forest  above  a 
lew  hundred  yards  from  the  road,  and  occurred 
hut  at  distant  intervals.  Towards  evening  we 
passed  six  waggons,  conveying  ninety  Slaves  be- 
longing to  General ,  from  his  plantation  in 

Georgia,  to  his  settlement  on  the  Cahawba  in  Ala- 
bama. {  mention  these  little  occurrences  to  put 
you  more  familiarly  in  possession  of  the  habits  of 
the  country. 

Fort  Hawkins  is  a  small  quadrangle  of  wooden 
buildings,  supposed,  during  the  late  war,  to  be  of 
some  importance  in  intimidating  the  Lower  Creek 
Indians,  some  of  whom  took  part  with  the  British. 
The  whole  tract  cleared  for  the  fort,  and  a  house 
of  entertainment  for  travellers,  is  perhaps  half  a 
mile  square;  and  from  the  fort  the  eye  looks 
down  on  an  unbroken  mass  of  pine  woods,  which 
lose  themselves  on  every  side  in  the  horizon 
about  twenty  miles  distant. 

We  left  Fort  Hawkins  at  seven  o'clock,  on  the 
22d,  having  taken  care  to  secure  our  breakfast,  as 
we  knew  that  we  should  not  see  a  habitation  till 
we  arrived  at  our  evening  (|uarters.  About  a 
mile  from  Fort  Hawkins  we  crossed  the  Oakmul- 
gee,  and  entered  the  Indian  nation  of  the  Creeks. 
The  Oakmulgee,  in  conjunction  with  the  Oconee, 
forms  the  Altamaha,  and  is  the  last  river  we  cross- 
ed which  empties  itself  into  the  Atlantic.  In  the 
rourse  of  the  day  we  passed  some  Indians  with 


^ 


h 


/ 


n  the 
st,  as 
■dii  till 
out  a 
kmul- 
eeks. 
onee, 
cross- 
n  the 
with 


II.) 

llu'ir  guns  cinil  hlankets,  and  scvituI  WHj^gtMis  of 
emigrants  Trotn  Georgia  ant)  Carolina  to  Alabama. 
We  also  saw  many  gangs  of  Slaves  whom  their 
masters  were  transporting  to  Alabama  and  Mis- 
sissippi, and  met  one  party  returning  from  New- 
Orleans  to  Georgia.  We  were  astonished  to 
meet  this  solitary  oarty  going  against  the  stream. 
Their  driver  told  me  that  tlieir  master  had  re- 
moved them  to  New-Orleans,  where  they  arrived 
three  days  before  Christmas.  \u  less  than  a  fort- 
night he  found  he  did  not  like  the  place,  and  or- 
dered them  back  again  to  Georgia.  They  set 
out  on  the  1st  .January,  and  on  the  22d  March 
were  oidy  thus  far  on  their  way.  In  the  course  of 
the  day  we  did  not  pass  a  single  house  or  settle- 
ment; but  our  pine  avenue  was  literally  without 
interruption  for  thirty  miles.  We  stopped  at  night 
on  the  banks  of  the  Flint  River,  which,  with  the 
waters  of  the  Chetahouche,  forms  the  Apalachi- 
cola,  which  falls  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Of  our 
very  interesting  route  from  this  place  through  the 
Indian  nation  to  the  white  settlements  in  Alaba- 
ma, I  have  sent  you  a  long  account  in  other  let- 
ters. I  forgot,  however,  to  mention,  that  our  host 
at  Fort  Bainbridge  told  me  that  he  was  living 
with  his  Indian  wife  among  the  Indians  when  the 
celebrated  Indian  warrior,  .Jecumseh,  came  more 
than  1000  miles,  from  the  borders  of  Canada,  to 
induce  the  Lower  Creeks  to  promise  to  take  up 
the  hatchet,  in  behalf  of  the  British,  against  the 
Americans  and  the  Upper  Creeks,  whenever  he 
should  require  it ;  that  he  was  present  at  the  mid- 
night convocation  of  the  chiefs  which  was  held 

19 


f 


ipp 


1:: 


,'  t 


IKi 


*■■   /* 


t 


on  the  occasion,  and  which  terminatnd,  alter  a 
most  impressive  speech  I'rom  Jecumseh,  with  a 
unanimous  determination  to  take  up  the  hatchet 
whenever  he  should  call  upon  them;  that  this 
was  at  least  a  year  before  the  declaration  of  the 
last  war:  That  when  war  was  declared,  Jecuni- 
seh  came  again  in  great  agitation,  and  induced 
them  to  muster  their  warriors  and  rush  upon  the 
American  troops.  It  was  to  quell  these  internal 
and  insidious  toes,  that  the  campaign  was  under- 
taken, during  which  the  small  stockaded  mounds 
which  I  have  mentioned,  were  thrown  up  in  the 
Indian  country  by  the  Americans.  It  was  with 
mingled  sentiments  of  shame  and  regret  that  I  re- 
flected on  the  miseries  which  we  have  at  different 
periods  introduced  into  the  very  centre  of  Ameri- 
ca and  Africa,  by  exciling  the  Indian  warrior  and 
Negro  king  to  precipitate  their  nations  into  the 
horrors  of  war;  but  I  endeavoured  to  dispel 
these  melancholy  feelings  by  the  recollection  of 
our  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies,  and  of  that 
faithful  band  of  veterans  who,  through  evil  report 
and  good  report,  amid  occasional  success  and 
accumulated  disappointment,  still  continue  the 
undismayed,  uncompromising  advocates  of  injur- 
ed Africa. 

We  bade  adieu  to  the  Indian  nation  on  the 
evening  of  the  28th,  crossing  Lime  Creek,  the 
western  boundary,  in  a  boat.  We  had  travelled 
tliat  day  about  40  miles,  and  had  passed,  as  usual, 
many  large  parties  of  emigrants,  from  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia,  ai»d  many  gangs  of  slaves.  In- 
deed, at  the  edges  of  the  creeks,  and  on  the  hanks 


n 


hf 


ii: 


ol'  tlio  rivers,  we  usually  i'ountl  a  curious  coUor- 
lion  ol'sans  soucis,  sulkies,  carts,  Jersey  waggons, 
heavy  waggons,  little  planters,  Indians,  Negro 
horses,  mules,  atid  oxen ;  the  women  and  Httle 
children  sitting  down  frequently  for  one,  two,  or 
three,  and  sometimes  for  five  or  six  hours,  to 
work  or  play,  while  the  men  were  engaged  in  the 
almost  hopeless  task  of  dragging  or  swimming 
their  vehicles  and  haggage  to  the  opposite  side. 
Often  a  light  carriage,  with  a  sallow  planter  and 
his  lady,  would  bring  up  the  rear  of  a  long  caval- 
cade, and  indicate  the  removal  of  a  family  of  some 
wealth,  who,  allured  by  the  rich  lands  of  Alaba- 
ma, or  the  sugar  plantations  on  the  Mississippi, 
had  bidden  adieu  to  the  scenes  of  their  youth, 
and  undertaken  a  long  and  painful  pilgrimage 
through  the  wilderness. 

We  left  Lime  Creek  early  on  the  2nth,  and,  af- 
ter riding  a  few  miles,  arrived  at  Point  Comfort ; 
a  fine  cotton  plantation,  v.hose  populous  neigh- 
bourhood, and  highly  cultivated  fields,  reminded 
us  that  we  were  no  longer  travelling  through  a  na- 
tion of  hunters.  Indeed,  the  appearance  of  oaks 
in  the  place  of  our  pine  woods,  was  indicative  of" 
a  material  change  in  the  soil ;  and  we  soon  open- 
ed on  some  of  the  beautiful  prairies  which  yoti 
have  frequently  seen  described,  and  which,  as 
they  were  not  large,  reminded  me  of  our  meadows 
in  the  well  wooded  parts  of  England.  As  travel- 
lers, however,  we  paid  dearly  for  the  advantages 
offered  to  the  landholders  by  the  rich  soil  over 
which  we  were  passing.  Our  road,  which  had 
hitherto  been  generally  excellent  for  travellirjg  on 


I' 


'K^JflMB*** 


\ 


\ 


p  j 


IJH 


horseback,  became  as  wretchedly  bad ;  and  we 
passed  through  three  swamps,  which  I  feared 
would  ruin  our  horses.  They  were  about  a  mile 
long  each;  but  we  estimated  the  fatigue  of  cross- 
ing any  of  them  as  equivalent  to  at  least  15  or  20 
miles  of  common  travelling.  They  were  oversha- 
dowed with  beautiful  but  entangling  trees,  with- 
out any  regular  track  through  the  verdure  which 
covered  the  thick  clay  in  which  our  horses  fre- 
quently stuck,  as  much  at  a  loss  where  to  take  the 
next  step,  as  how  to  extricate  themselves  from  the 
last.  Sometiiiies  th(;y  had  to  scramble  out  of  thr 
tieep  mire  upon  the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree,  from 
which  they  could  not  descend  without  again  sink- 
ing on  the  other  side.  Sometimes  we  were  so 
completely  entangled  in  the  vines,  that  we  were 
compelled  to  dismount  to  cut  our  way  out  of  the 
vegetable  meshes  in  which  we  seemed  to  be  en- 
trapped. These  swamps  are  ten  times  more  for- 
midable than  even  the  flooded  creeks,  over  two 
of  which,  in  less  than  three  miles,  we  had  this  day 
to  have  our  horses  swum  by  Indians,  whose  agili- 
ty in  the  water  is  beautiful.  The  traveller  him- 
self is  either  conveyed  over  in  a  boat,  or,  if  the 
creek  is  very  narrow,  crosses  it  on  a  large  tree, 
which  has  been  so  dexterously  felled  as  to  fall 
across  and  form  a  tolerable  bridge.  We  slept 
that  night  at  a  poor  cabin  just  erected,  and  set- 
ting otr  early  on  the  30th,  and  passing  by  Pine 
Barren  Spring,  and  two  very  bad  swamps,  stop- 
ped to  breakfast  at  a  solitary  house,  where  our 
host's  talkative  daughter  made  breakfast  for  us. 
She  could  not  refrain  the  expression  of  her  sur- 


\ 


\  ^ 


1^!« 


we 

ared 

mile 

ross- 

or20 

rsha- 

with- 

vhich 

!S  fre- 

te  the 

in  the 

of  the 

,  from 

1  sink- 

ere  so 

e  were 
of  the 

be  en- 
re  for- 

Br  two 
is  day 

|e  agili- 
r  him- 
if  the 
e  tree, 
to  fall 
|e  slept 
ittd  set- 
»y  Pine 
|s,  stop- 
re  our 
for  us. 
er  sur- 


>  • 

4 

•* 

1 

1 

< 
1 

» 

^ 

__■* 

■V 

4 

prise  at  the  sight  of  a  White  servant,  having  ne- 
ver seen  one  before,  and  was  much  more  asto- 
nished when  1  told  her  that  the  White  and  Black 
servants  in  my  country  eat  at  the  same  table. 

We  arrived  in  the  evening  at  a  few  palings 
which  have  dignified  the  place  with  the  appella- 
tion of  Fort   Dale,  where  travellers  are  accom- 
modated   tolerably  on    a  flourishing   plantation. 
Our  landlord  was  an  intelligent  man  ;  and  among 
his  books   I  saw  the  Bible,  the  Koran,  a  Hymn 
book,   Nicholson's  Encyclopedia,  Sterne,  Burns, 
Cowper,   Cfelebs,  Camilla,  and  the  Acts  of  the 
Alabama  Legislature,  of  vvhich  he  was  a  member. 
The  next  morning  we    breakfasted  at  a  retired 
house  20  uiiles  distant,  kept  by  one  of  three  fami- 
lies who  came  out  of  Georgia  two  years  since  to 
settle  and  to  protect  each  other.     The  husband 
of  one  of  the  party  has  since  been  shot  by  the  In- 
dians in  the  woods.     He  died  in  three  hours  after 
he  was  found  weltering  in  his  blood,  and  was  at- 
tended by  the  woman  who  gave  me  the  account. 
The  wife  of  another  of  the  party  was  murdered 
by  the  Indians  a  few  days  ai'terwards,  when  on  a 
visit  to  some  friends  fifteen  miles  distant,  where 
live  women  and  four  children  were  hutcher(Hl  and 
scalped;  and  the  house  of  the  narrator  was  soon 
afterwards  burnt  to  the  ground  by  the  same  ene- 
my, provoked  probably  by  some  injury  or  insult 
offered  by  travellers  through  their  nation,  which 
they   would   retaliate  on    the  Whites  whenever 
they  had  an  opportunity.     We  passed  in  the  af- 
ter noon  by  "Indian  Path;"  and   about  twilight 
arrived  at  Murder  Creek,  a  deep  glen,  where  we 


r 


I«  ; !  ^ 


u 


1 


i;,o 


took  up  our  abode  for  tlir  nisjht.  The  nnine 
sounded  rather  terrilic,  alter  the  dismal  stories 
we  had  heard  in  the  day ;  but  as  the  man  and  his 
wife,  my  servant,  two  travellers  in  a  bed,  and 
tliree  in  their  blankets  on  the  floor,  all  slept  in 
the  same  room  as  myself,  a  single  glance  in  any 
direction  was  sulficient,  with  the  aid  of  the  glim- 
mering of  our  wood  fire,  to  dispel  any  fearful 
visions  of  the  night.  This  little  creek  and  valley 
derive  their  name  from  the  murder  of  18  or  20 
Whites  by  the  Indians,  fiftt;en  years  since.  They 
were  camping  out  when  the  Indians  fell  upon 
them;  and  the  scene  of  the  massacre  is  marked 
out  by  a  black  stump  ir)  the  garden. 

We  left  Murder  Creek  by  mooidight,  at  four 
o'clock  on  the  1st  inst. :  and  passing  by  Burnt 
Corn,  where  we  quitted  the  usual  road  to  Mobile, 
we  took  the  nearer  but  more  solitary  route  to 
Blakely.  We  breakfasted  with  a  very  pleasing 
family  in  the  middle  of  the  forest.  They  were 
the  first  whom  I  heard  regret  that  they  had  quit- 
ted Georgia ;  they  said  that  although  they  could 
do  better  here  than  in  Georgia,  the  manners  of 
their  neighbours  were  rough  and  ill  suited  to  their 
taste.  They  stated,  however,  that  things  were 
improving;  that  the  laws  respecting  the  observ- 
ance of  the  vSabbath  were  enforced  ;  and  that 
they  hoped  much  from  the  liberal  provision  made 
by  Government,  in  the  sale  of  the  public  lands, 
for  an  extensive  school  in  the  centre  of  every 
township  of  six  miles  square.  Their  children 
were  attending  /gratis  (as  is  customary)  the  school 
^n  their  township,  which   is   already  established, 


■p<**- 


I  :>  I 


altliuugh  the  population  is  as  yet  vcr}  scanty. 
The  master,  who  teaches  Latin,  and,  1  believe, 
French,  has  a  salary  of  700  dollars  per  annniu, 
and  the  neighbours  are  providing  him  with  assist- 
ant tutors.  This  liberal  provision  for  schools  in 
all  the  newly  settled  countries,  does  great  credit 
to  the  American  Government :  and  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  estimate  too  highly  its  probable  ultimate 
effects.  Our  host  and  his  family  gave  us  a  little 
provision  for  the  night ;  as  they  told  us  that  we 
must  not  expect  to  get  '•  a  bite"  for  ourselves  or 
our  horses  in  less  than  fifty  miles,  and  we  had 
already  travelled  thirteen.  Our  road  again  lay 
through  a  most  solitary  pine  barren  on  a  high 
ridge.  The  only  thing  which  attracted  my  atten- 
tion during  the  morning,  was  a  finger-post  of  wood 
fastened  to  a  tree  and  pointing  down  a  grass  path, 
and  on  which  was  written  "  To  Pensacola."  I  felt 
more  lonely  and  more  distant  from  home  at  that 
moment,  than  at  any  time  since  I  lost  sight  of  my 
native  shores.  In  the  afternoon  we  were  surpris- 
ed by  one  of  the  most  sublimely  dreadful  specta- 
cles I  ever  beheld.  Thousands  of  large  pine 
trees  lay  torn  and  shattered  on  each  other,  only 
one  in  four  or  five  having  been  left  standing,  by  a 
dreadful  hurricane  which  occured  a  fortnight  be- 
I'ore,  and  the  ravages  of  which  extended  nearly 
twelve  miles.  Some  had  been  thrown  down  with 
such  prodigious  violence,  that  their  thick  trunks 
were  broken  in  two  or  three  pieces  by  the  fall ; 
others  were  splintered  from  the  top  nearly  to  the 
bottom,  while  others  were  lying  on  each  other 
lijurorfive  feet  thick,  with  their  branches intert win- 


ill 


II 


'-I 


I 


1.02 


f'd  as  il'  they  liiui  been  torn  up  by  the  roots  in  a 
body.  But  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  describe 
the  spectacle.  I  will  only  say,  that  the  most 
dreadful  tossing  of"  the  ocean  never  impressed  me 
so  strongly  with  the  ideaof  uncontrollable  power, 
as  this  magnificent  scene  of  devastation.  Ojjr 
road  was  so  completely  buried  that  we  had  to 
hunt  our  track  at  some  distance  in  the  woods. 
My  servant  observed,  "  What  a  many  hundred 
miles  people  in  England  would  go  to  see  such  a 
sight !"  It  is  such  hurricanes  as  these  that  Volney 
describes,  as  twisting  oflT  and  laying  level  the 
largest  trees  within  the  limits  of  their  range;  and 
he  very  aptly  compares  their  course  through 
the  forest  to  that  of  a  reaper  through  a  field  of 
wheat. 

We  had  intended  to  stop  at  sunset,  as  in  these 
latitudes  there  is  little  or  no  twilight ;  but  as 
usual  we  could  not  persuade  ourselves  that  the 
night  would  close  upon  us  immediately,  and  the 
ground  was  so  wet  on  the  Table-land  of  the 
ridge,  that  we  proceeded  in  order  to  discover  a 
better  place  to  rest  for  the  night,  till  we  found 
ourselves  benighted  among  the  swamps,  our  horses 
sinking  and  stumbling,  and  frequently  passing 
through  water  two  or  three  feet  deep,  out  of 
which  we  could  scarcely  see  our  way.  The  damps 
of  the  night  in  this  watery  region,  prevented  our 
alighting  to  try  lo  make  afire,  till  the  moon  should 
enable  us  to  proceed ;  and  indeed  we  did  not 
think  it  prudent  to  dismount,  on  account  of  the 
alligators,  which  abound  here :  we  had  about 
siujset  passed   very  near  one.      Our    ears    were 


IJJ 


stunned  with  the  frog  concerts,  which  now  and 
then  arose,  and  depressed  our  spirits,  by  intima- 
ting that  we  were  approaching  another  swamp, 
although  it  was  too  dark  to  see  it.  What  differ- 
<'nt  emotions  the  frog  concerts  in  Africa  excited 
ill  Mungo  Park,  who  hailed  them  as  symptoms  of 
his  approach  to  the  water,  for  which  he  was  pant- 
ing. This  was  the  first  time  1  had  really  felt  in 
an  awkward  situation,  and  my  servant's  spirits 
liegan  to  fail  him.  He  told  me  afterwards,  that 
for  two  hours,  the  perspiration  was  dropping 
from  his  face,  and  his  knees  where  shaking  as  if 
he  was  in  an  ague;  the  more  so  as  he  was 
afraid  that  our  pound  of  bacon,  which  was  in  his 
saddle-bag,  would  allure  the  alligators  lo  him. 
We  were  suddenly  surprised  by  a  number  of 
moving  lights,  which  led  us  to  suppose  that  some 
persons  were  scouring  the  forest ;  but  we  heard 
no^oise :  even  when  many  of  them  appeared  to 
be  moving  round  us  within  a  few  yards  distance, 
all  was  silent  when  v»^e  stopped  our  horses.  At 
last  it  flashed  across  my  mind  that  these  moving 
lights  must  proceed  from  the  beautiful  fire-flies 
we  had  often  heard  of,  but  which  I  had  supposed 
were  confine.!  to  the  East.  Even  at  such  a  mo- 
ment I  was  delighted  with  their  beauty,  evanes- 
cent as  it  was;  for  they  soon  disappeared.  Oc- 
casionally we  were  again  deluded  by  a  solitary 
fire-fly  at  a  distance,  which  twinkled  like  a  light 
from  a  cottage  window,  and  to  which  we  several 
times  bent  our  steps,  our  spirits  depressed  by 
every  successive  disappointment. 

At  last,  just  as  the  moon  rose,  we  reached  an 


.        f       ir.  I 


^  /I 

i 


r,-»«*i*,.„ 


is  • 


(i 


I.')! 


•  \' 


■M 


olevate<l  spot,  where  we  lighted  our  tire,  toasted 
our  bacon,  and  after  securing  our  horses  by  a 
little  fence  of  saplit)gs,  lay  down  on  our  blankettj 
under  the  trees  with  no  common  satisfaction. 

We  started  before  four  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  breakfasted  at  a  house  about  ten  miles 
distant.     The  settlement  was  established  about 
fifteen  years  since — the  Indians,  contrary  to  their 
usual  custom,  having  permitted  it :    but  although 
the  owner  had  more  than  2000  head  of  cattle  graz- 
ing in  the  woods,  he  had  neither  milk  nor  butter 
to  give  us  to  our  coffee.     This  is  an  extreme  case ; 
but  it  is  not  uncommon,  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, to  be  unable  to  procure  either  milk  or  butter 
where  eighteen  or  twenty  cows  are  kept,  solid 
animal  food  being  much  preferred.     Humboldt, 
you  recollect,  in  the  account  of  his  journey  from 
the  mountains  of  Parapara  to  the  banks  of  the 
Apure,  mentions  arriving  at  a  farm  where  he  ^jyas 
told  of  herds  of  several  thousand  cows  grazing  in 
the  steppes ;  and  yet  he  asked  in  vain  for  a  bowl 
of  milk.     At  the  house  where  we  breakfasted,  we 
saw  the  skin  of  a  bear  drying  in  the  sun  :  seven 
miles  farther  we  passed  a  large  panther,  or  tiger, 
as  it  is   called,   which    had    been  lately    killed, 
and  stuffed.      At  the  next  house  was  the  skin  of  a 
rattlesnake,  which  the  woman  who  lived  there 
had  killed  a  few  nights  before.     At  this  retired 
house  we  were  detained  two  or  three  hours,  by 
a  violent  thunder-storm,    with  extremely  heavy 
rain.     As  soon  as  the  rain  abated  we  set  off  again 
to  Blakeley,  which  we  were  anxious  to  reach,  as 
it  was  Saturday  night.     Indeed,  for  the  last  three 


i\iiys  we  had  travelled  forty-live  miles  each  d<iv, 
in  order  to  arrive  before  Sunday ;  but  to  our  dis- 
appointment, we  found  there  was  jio  church  or 
meeting  there  of  any  description :  and  we  accord- 
ingly crossed  the  bay 'in  the  morning  to  go  to 
church  at  this  place,  [Mobile,]  where  we  were 
equally  disappointed  ;  for,  to  the  disgrace  of  Pro- 
testant America,  no  place  of  worship  is  establish- 
ed here  except  a  Catholic  church,  built  by  the 
Fronrh  or  Spanish. 

I  am,  Siv. 


LETTER  XIV. 


A'atchez,  State  of  Mississippi,  6th  May^  1820. 

I  MENTIONED  in  my  last  letter,  that  after  cross- 
ing the  bay  on  Sunday  morning  to  go  to  church, 
I  was  disappointed  to  find  no  Protestant  place  of 
worship.  I  had  travelled  hard  to  reach  Blakeley 
or  Mobile  on  Saturday  night ;  and  could  1  have 
supposed  that  I  should  find  no  Protestant  church 
in  so  numerous  a  society  of  American  Protestants, 
I  should  have  preferred  a  solitary  Sabbath  in  the 
woods  to  the  melancholy  prospect  of  a  communi- 
ty where  its  solemnities  are  despised.  I  under- 
stood, however,  that  a  Protestant  clergyman  from 
the  Eastern  States  had,  for  some  Sundays  preced- 
ing, been  officiating,  alternately  at  Mobile  and 
Blakeley.  These  towns  are  situated  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  bay,  and  are  contending  vehemently 


'^VMta*  .iA-iMMr^ 


• 


'I 


l:A\ 


^1*1 


# 


iJ  I  ^  ■• 


lor  the  privilege  of  becoming  that  great  emporium 
which  must  shortly  spring  up  in  the  vicinity  ot 
this  outlet  for.  the  produce  of  the  young  fertile 
i^tate  of  Alabama.  The  surface  drained  by  the 
livers  Tombigbee,  Black  Warrior,  Alabama, 
Coosa  Tallapoosa,  and  Cahawba,  all  of  which  fall 
into  Mobile  Bay,  exeeds  twenty-six  millions  of 
acres,  possessing  a  very  great  diversity  of  soil  and 
climate,  and  enjoying  commercial  and  agricultu- 
ral advantages,  which  are  attracting  towards 
them,  with  unprecedented  rapidity,  the  wealth 
and  enterprise  of  the  older  states. 

Blakeley  is  a  real  American  town  of  yesterday, 
with  a  fine  range  of  warehouses ;  the  stumps  of 
the  trees  which  have  been  felled  to  make  room 
for  this  young  city,  still  standing  in  the  streets. 
Mobile  is  an  old  Spanish  town,  with  mingled 
traces  of  the  manners  and  language  of  the  French 
and  Spaniards,  and  with  an  old  fort,  called  Fort 
Conde,  which  is  to  be  superseded  by  fortifications 
in  a  more  formidable  position. 

The  change  from  the  quiet  homely  cabins  in 
which  we  were  entertained  in  the  woods,  to  the 
noisy  dirty  tavern  of  Mobile,  was  by  no  means  an 
agreeable  one.  I  sat  down  with  about  thirty  or 
forty  persons  to  every  meal ;  but  I  saw  much  more 
of  mc«  than  of  manneis,  and  was  convinced  that 
there  was  some  truth  in  what  I  had  been  told,  that 
in  travelling  westward  in  this  country,  you  may 
take  your  longitude  by  observing  the  decrements 
of  the  time  occupied  at  meals.  At  Mobile,  five 
or  six  minutes  might  possibly  be  the  average,  and 
yet  we  accuse  the  Americans  of  being  indolent  and 


I.-.: 


and 
and 


prodigal  of  time  !  Generally  speaking,  tlic  conipu- 
ny  at  the  taverns  consists  ol"  agents  and  clerks, 
and  the  mass  of  the  population  is  of  a  most  mis- 
cellaneous kind.  The  aspect  of  society,  as  it 
presents  itself  to  the  superficial  eye  of  a  stranger, 
is  such  as  might  be  expected  where  public  wor- 
ship is  totally  disregarded.  Profaneness,  licen- 
tiousness, and  ferocity,  seemed  to  be  characteris- 
tic of  the  place ;  and  the  latter,  as  manifested  in 
barbarity  to  the  Negro  servants,  was  beyond  even 
what  I  had  anticipated.  You  continually  hear 
the  lash  upon  their  backs,  with  language  which 
would  shock  you,  even  if  applied  to  brutes  ;  and 
the  easy  and  intelligent  expression  which  I  had 
observed  in  the  countenances  of  many  of  the 
Slaves  in  Carolina  and  Georgia,  had  here  given 
place  to  the  appearance  of  abject  timidity  or 
idiotic  vacancy.  I  have  seen  men,  after  receiving 
a  severe  flogging,  and  uttering  the  most  piercing 
cries,  the  moment  their  tyrant's  back  was  turned, 
burst  into  a  loud  laugh,  dancing  about  the  room, 
and  snapping  their  fingers,  like  a  school-boy,  who 
wishes  to  appear  as  if  he  "  did  not  care." 

The  ravages  of  the  fever  here  last  year  were 
perhaps  proportionably  more  severe  than  at  any 
other  place.  In  July,  the  population  was  liiOO: 
soon  after  the  appearance  of  the  fever  in  Septem- 
ber, it  was  reduced  by  migrations  to  500,  of  which 
number,  274  died,  including  115  permanent  in- 
habitants. I  never  left  a  place  with  more  satis- 
faction. We  embarked  on  board  a  small  schooner 
on  the  evening  of  the  4th,  and  remained  on  deck 
till  it  was  dark.     The  islands  in  the  middle  of  the 


m 


fi 


i;>u 


I 


11 

\j 

I;,    < 

•  /,■ 
/ 


(;,  ill^ 


Imy,  covered  willi  reetls  lour  or  five  feel  liitjli,  anil 
their  shores  loaded   with   rat't-wood,  which   wat 
then  floating  down  the  hay  in  immense  quantities, 
had  a  most  desolate  appearance.    In  the  morning 
we  found  ourselves  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  but 
^vithin  sight  of  land,  and  with  a  number  of  peli- 
cans flying  around  us.     As  the  wind  was  fair,  we 
stood  out  longer  than  usual  on  the  outside  of  a 
chain  of  low  flat  islands,  which  forms  with  the 
main  land  a  channel,  through  which,  vessels  draw- 
ing not  more  than  oix  feet  water,  may  reach  New- 
Orleans  by  Lake  Borgne  and  Lake  Portchartrain, 
w  ithout  entering  the  Mississippi.     On  the  5th,  we 
waw  the  sun  rise  and  set  with  cloudless  splendour 
in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  and  I  could  not  help  re- 
flecting how  ill  the  moral  darkness  of  this  aban- 
doned region  accorded  with  the  clear  sky. which 
was  spread  over  us,  and  the  glassy  surface  of  the 
vast  expanse  in  which  we  were  encircled.    On  the 
6th  we  sailed  between  the  islands  I  have  alluded 
to  and  the  main  shore,  which  was  a  dead  flat,  of 
little  interest,  except  towards  the  beautiful  bay  of 
St.  Louis,  to  which  the  more  opulent  inhabitants 
of  Louisiana  retire  during  the  sickly  season.   The 
shores  are  for  the  most  part  covered  with  fine 
forests,  which  stretch  to  the  water's  edge.   Indeed 
it  is  observed  by  Derby,  that  considerably  more 
than  one  half  of  all  that  part  of  the  United  States 
south  of  latitude  35  deg.  east  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  bounded  south  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  Florida,  is  covered  with  pines.     It  is  a  com- 
mon opinion  in  many  parts  of  America,  that  these 
pine  lands  are  incapable  of  cultivation,  and  are 


i;jH 


(Icbtinod  to  continue  forever  in  their  native  eon<li- 
tion.     The  fallacy  of  i\\\»  opinion   ha^  hetMi  de- 
monstrated by  succeHHful  experiments  in  the  north- 
ern states,  where  verdure  and  tiprtility  now  cover 
hirge   tracts   which  iiad   been   thus  hnstdy    con- 
demned to  perpetual  sterility.     We  had  beautil'ul 
weather,  and,  after  coasting  alon^  what  is  now 
the  State  of  Mississippi,  but  was  fornjerly  part  oi" 
West  Florida,  and  passing  the  mouths  of  Kusea- 
goala  and  Pearl  rivers,  we  reached  New-Orleans 
early  on  the  7th.     There  was  nothing  interesting 
ni  our  passengers.     One  of  them  was  from  Ber- 
muda.   His  ship  and  cargo  were  seized  at  Mobile, 
because  he  had  brought  a  black  servant,  without 
a  certificate  of  his  parents'  freedom.     As  the  boy 
was  originally  from  New-Orleans,  his  master  was 
obliged  to  go  thither  to  obtain  the  certificate,  be- 
fore he  could   release  his  vessel.     I  mention  this 
merely  as  an  instance  of  the  vigilance  yvith  which 
the  smuggling  of  slaves  is  watched  ;  and  I  am  hap- 
py to  say,  from  all  I  can  learn  from  the  inhabitants 
of  Florida  on  St.  Mary's  river,  and  trom  the  com- 
manders of  vessels  on  that  coast  and  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  that  I  believe  slave-smuggling  in   this 
quarter  is  at  present  extremely  limited.   The  pira- 
tical establishment  at  Galveston,  which   was  one 
of  the  principal  channels  for  the  introduction  ol' 
Slaves,  has  solicited  and  obtained  permission  to 
sail  out  of  the  Gulf. 

My  impressions  of  New-Orleans  were  of  the 
most  uncomfortable  kind ;  but  they  were  a  little 
relieved  by  the  beautiful  orange-groves  in  the  sub- 
urbs, and  far  more  by  the  extensive  meadows  ol 


♦ 


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100 


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VJ 


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it' 


deep  rich  wild  clover  through  which  we  approach- 
ed the  town  from  the  Bayou  St.  John,  after  sailing 
through  Lake  Borgne  and  Lake  Portchartrain. 
These  meadows,  with  the  numerous  herds  of  cat- 
tle which  were  grazing  in  them,  had  a  more  Eng- 
lish appearance  than  any  views  we  have  yet  seen; 
the  absence  of  a  rich  green  surface,  clear  of  wood, 
being  to  us  one  of  the  most  constant  peculiarities 
of  the  American  scenery  through  which  we  have 
yet  passed.  The  prairies  were  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  our  home  views. — It  was  not  until  I 
had  crossed  the  city,  that  I  first  caught  a  view 
of  the  noble  Mississippi.  It  was  in  flood,  ris- 
ing and  flowing  rapidly,  but  majestically,  to 
the  ocean.  I  cannot  describe  my  sensations 
when  I  found  myself  actually  on  the  banks  of  a 
river  which  had  so  long  and  so  powerfully  im- 
pressed my  imagination.  At  dinner  we  had  the 
water  of  the  river  in  the  decanters ;  and,  muddy 
as  it  was  till  it  had  deposited  its  copious  sedi- 
ment, I  looked  at  it  with  no  common  interest,  and 
was  elated  with  the  idea  that  I  was  drinking  water 
from  a  stream  which,  rising  in  the  northern  regions 
in  the  same  Table-lands  from  which  more  wintry 
currents  flow  to  Hudson's  Bay  and  Niagara,  and 
actually  freezing  near  its  source  on  the  bottom  of 
the  canoes  in  the  middle  of  summer,  traverses  this 
western  continent  for  nearly  3000  miles,  and  after 
watering  the  orange  groves  and  sugar  plantations 
of  Louisiana,  and  spreading  itself  far  and  wide 
over  an  immense  delta  of  alluvion,  falls  into  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  under  nearly  the  same  latitude  as 
the  Nile. 


I? 


Alter  perambulating  the  city,  my  former  uiipiea- 
sant  impressions  returned  in  their  Ml  force,  and 
were  confirmed  by  every  day's  residence. 

The  first  thing  that  struck  me  was  the  French 
names  of  most  of  the  streets,  an  old  French  The- 
atre, and  an  old  French  or  Spanish  fort.    The  ad- 
vertisements on  most  of  the  shops  were  in  French : 
many  of  the  shopkeepers  spoke  French  only ;  and 
the  dress  of  the  ladies  was  French  altogether. 
The  population  is  of  every  complexion,  from  the 
most  beautiful  white  and  red,  through  all  the  va- 
rious shades  of  brown  and  yellow,  to  jet  black. 
Indeed,  perhaps  no  city  in  the  world  exhibits  a 
more  miscellaneous  collection  of  inhabitants : — 
Americans  from  every  state,  from  Maine  to  Geor- 
gia; English,  French,  Spanish,  Creole,  Indian,  and 
African ; — and  it  is  not  always,  as  you  will  readily 
believe,  the  best  of  their  respective  nations  who 
have  chosen  to  place  themselves  on  the  forlorn 
hope  in  this  pestilential  region.     My  stay  was  too 
short  to  authorize  me  to  pretend  to  describe  the 
state  of  society.     I  will  only  say,  therefore,  that 
the  impressions  which  1  carried  with  me  from  Eng- 
land and  the  Northern  States,  were  by  no  means 
efiaced  by  the  opportunity  of  actual  observation. 

I  took  up  my  abode  at  Madame 's,  where 

there  were  several  gentlemen  whom  I  knew,  Judge 
,  General ,  and  a  Captain  of  the  Ameri- 
can Navy,  whose  liberal  sentiments,  general  infor- 
mation, and  gentlemanly  maimers,  would  have 
done  no  discredit  to  the  captain  of  a  British  fri- 
gate. My  quarters,  therefore  might  have  been 
very  aj^reeable.  if  my  landlady,  who  keeps  by  fnr 

•iJ 


I 


i     I 


« 


i^i 


>     II 

r 


162 


V 

I 


I 


the  best  boarding-house  in  New-Orleans,  had  been 
of  a  different  character.  Unfortunately,  my  room 
adjoined  hers ;  and  I  heard  her  at  four  or  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  calling  for  her  cow-skin  to 
square  the  preceding  day's  account  with  her  Ne- 
groes. She  was  in  bulk  like  a  large  English  land- 
lady ;  and  I  have  heard  the  heavy  blows  of  her 
brawny  arm,  and  the  piercing  cries  of  the  wretch- 
ed slave  succeed  each  other  till  she  was  complete- 
ly exhausted.  Had  I  had  reason  to  believe  that 
I  should  avoid  such  disgusting  occurrences  by  re- 
moving, I  would  have  left  immediately ;  but  such 
exhibitions  were  too  general  to  be  escaped. 

I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  moral  aspect 
of  the  town  is  improving,  although  the  gambling 
houses  are  sanctioned  by  Government,  who  farm 
out  a  general  license  to  an  individual,  to  be  sub- 
divided at  pleasure — with  more  consistency  cer- 
tainly with  the  manners  and  institutions  of  the 
community,  than  can  be  pleaded  by  the  patroniz- 
ers  o{  our  public  lotteries.  The  rapid  prosperity 
of  this  rising  city,  is  now  attracting  a  class  of 
settlers  far  more  respectable  than  those  whom 
bankrupt  fortunes  or  battered  characters  formerly 
drove  thither.  There  are  now  two  Protestant 
congregations ;  and  1  have  no  doubt  the  whole 
structure  of  society  will  undergo  a  rapid  change  : 
but  until  lately  public  worship  was  generally  neg- 
lected ;  and  licentiousness,  profaneness,  and  disre- 
gard to  the  Sabbath,  have  hitherto  found  there 
but  too  congenial  a  soil.  Let  those  who  feel  any 
doubts  of  the  efficacy  of  the  public  ordinances  of 
religion,  or  of  the  necessity  of  missionary  efforts. 


IkiA 


been 
room 
)r  five 
ikin  to 
iv  Ne- 
>  land- 
of  her 
retch- 
iplele- 
^e  that 
by  re- 
it  such 

aspect 
mbling 
lo  farm 
be  sub- 
cy  cer- 
of  the 
itroniz- 
sperity 
lass  oi' 
whom 
)rmerly 
)testant 
whole 
hange : 
\y  neg- 
d  disre- 
there 
eel  any 
mces  of 
efforts. 


once  nee  to  what  depths  of  depravity  hiuimn  na- 
ture will  slide  even  in  civilized  society,  where 
there  is  no  regular  annunciation  of  Christian  truths, 
and  then  declare  if  they  are  of  the  opinion  that 
they  can  reconcile  their  indiflference  to  the  diffu- 
sion of  religious  instruction  with  an  enlightened 
interest  in  the  improvement  of  the  human  race. 

I  left  New-Orleans  on  the  1 9th,  in  a  steam-boat. 
and  arrived  here,  320  miles,  early  on  the  23d,  after 
a  most  interesting  sail  through  the  very  singular 
country  through  which  the  Mississippi  flows.  For 
many  miles  above  New-Orleans,  the  banks  of  the 
river  are  enlivened  with  cotton  and  sugar  planta- 
tions, and  c  lamented  with  the  beautiful  gardens 
and  orange-groves  which  surround  the  neat  white 
frame-houses  of  the  planters.  The  plantations 
stretch  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  into  the  forests 
with  which  they  are  hemmed  in;  and  they  are 
formed  on  the  rich  borders  of  alluvial  soil,  which 
have  arisen  from  copious  depositions  of  the  river, 
while  within  the  reach  of  its  inundations.  They 
are  now  protected  from  the  annual  flood  by  a  large 
artificial  embankment,  thirty  or  forty  yards  from 
the  natural  bank  of  the  river,  four  to  six  feet  high, 
and  six  to  nine  feet  broad  at  the  base.  This  bank 
extends  130  miles  on  the  eastern,  and  about  170 
on  the  western  side  of  the  river;  and  its  preserva- 
tion is  secured  by  the  obligation  which  the  law 
imposes  on  every  individual  to  maintain  in  good 
repair  that  part  which  is  before  his  own  land — an 
obligation  which  is  enforced  by  commissioners 
who  are  appointed  to  inspect  and  direct  repairs. 
A  breach  in  the  sorce.  or  a  rrevmar.  as  it  is  called. 


-1  i 


►:      I 


i 


« 


h^ 


i,l 


.-^mfift. 


J(il 

ditiuses  getieFal  alarm.  Mr.  Bracken  bury  thus 
describes  it.  "  The  waters  rush  from  the  river 
with  indescribable  impetuosity,  with  a  noise  like 
the  roaring  of  a  cataract,  boiling  and  foaming,  and 
bearing  every  thing  before  them.  Like  the  break- 
in--  out  of  a  fire  in  a  town,  it  excites  universal  con- 
eUrnation.  Every  employment  is  abandoned  for 
miles  above  and  below,  and  every  exertion  is 
made  night  and  day  to  stop  the  breach,  which  is 
sometimes  successful,  but  more  frequently  the 
hostile  element  is  suffered  to  take  its  course."  In 
this  case,  "  it  svfeeps  with  wide  inundation  over 
the  most  valuable  tracts  of  cultivated  ground,  on 
which  houses  and  buildings  of  every  description 
are  erected,  and  destroys  in  one  moment,  the 
improvement  of  years."  Large  tracts  of  waste 
country  are  annually  flooded.  It  is  estimated  that 
below  the  thirty-third  degree  of  north  latitude,  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  a  distance  of  about 
60  miles,  the  country  liable  to  be  overflowed,  is 
nearly  12,000,  and  the  country  actually  submerged 
annually,  .5000  miles. 

One  great  peculiarity  of  the  I'ver,  are  its  nu- 
merous outlets.  The  first  of  these  which  we  ob- 
served was  La  Fourche,  about  80  miles  above 
New-Orleans.  About  thirty  or  forty  miles  higher 
is  the  Plaquemine,  seventy  yards  wide.  But  the 
main  outlet  is  the  Atchafalaya,  which  leaves  the 
Mississippi,  about  200  mil*'s  above  New-Orleans. 
It  is  said  to  be  more  than  100  yards  wide  where 
it  diverges  from  the  parent  stream,  and  180  miles 
in  length ;  and  the  tides,  which  are  never  more 
than  two  and  a  half,  or  three  feet  in  the  gulf,  flow 


lU.i 

up  the  Atchai'alaya,  150  miles.  At  a  very  shori 
distance  above  this  outlet,  (I  think  both  were  in 
sight  at  once,)  the  Red  River,  after  a  course  of 
ld()0  miles,  pours  its  broad  stream  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  confluence  of  these  two  rivers  is 
beautiful.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  Atcha- 
falaya  once  formed  the  channel  of  the  Red  River, 
which  then  preserved  its  identity  till  it  reached 
the  ocean.  Indeed  one  very  peculiar  feature  of 
the  country  bordering  on  this  part  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, is  the  number  of  old  channels  which  the 
river  has  left  as  memorials  of  its  former  course. 
It  winds  extremely ;  one  bend  of  fifty  miles  bring- 
ing us  within  four  miles,  and  another  of  thirty-five 
miles  within  one  mile  of  our  former  course.  It  thus 
forms  numerous  peninsulas,  till  the  neck  of  land 
becomes  so  narrow,  that  the  river  forces  its  wav 
through,  leaving  its  former  circuitous  channel 
either  to  be  choked  up  with  raft-wood,  or  to  be- 
come a  lagune  of  stagnant  water,  with  which  per- 
haps it  again  communicates  during  the  floods. 
Where  it  has  changed  its  course  less  suddenly, 
and  new  land  has  been  gradually  added  to  the 
side  from  which  it  has  receded,  it  is  curious  to  ob- 
serve the  comparative  height  of  the  new  trees, 
rising  in  regular  gradation  from  two  or  three,  to 
sixty  or  seventy  feet  high.  Hemmed  in  by  the 
dark  forests  which  overshadow  the  river  on  both 
sides  when  you  have  passed  the  limits  of  cultiva- 
tion, you  are  not  sorry  to  have  the  deep  solemni- 
ty of  the  scene  relieved  occasionally  by  a  younger 
growth.  At  night  especially,  sitting  alone  on  deck, 
as  I  often  did  till  morning,  the  solemnity  would 
liavp    hppu    overpoworinu    without    tho     variety 


^': 


fi 


-1^  m 


l\n 


f 


-  a*. V- i**^ 


».A«^3^ 


I 


r.h.( 


I;      (t 


'' '  i 


)t>b 


atlbrded  by  those  natural  plantations,  and  the 
wooded  islands  which  stud  the  lakes  formed  by 
the  expanding  current  and  sinuosities  of  this 
majestic  stream.  We  had  an  unclouded  moon 
while  we  ascended  the  Mississippi ;  but  her  beams 
scarcely  penetrated  the  forest,  the  dark  recesses 
of  whicli  were  often  illuminated  by  beautiful  fire- 
flies, sailing  silently  on  the  "  liquid  air,"  like  the 
planetary  orbs  which  we  saw  reflected  from  the 
bosom  of  the  river. 

During  the  day,  many  of  the  party  amused  them- 
selves with  shooting  at  the  alhgators,  which 
abounded,  and  which  we  continually  passed,  as 
they  were  either  swimming  slowly  on  the  surface,  or 
lying  half  out  of  the  water  on  logs  of  wood,  which 
they  much  resemble.  We  employed  ourselves 
also  in  looking  out  for  what  the  navigators  call 
planters  and  sawyers.  The  former  are  trees  which, 
floating  down  the  river,  have  fixed  themselves  at 
the  bottom,  with  their  tops  pointing  up  the  stream, 
and  often  concealed  under  water.  The  sawyers 
are  trees,  which  have  carried  with  them  a  large 
mass  of  earth  when  detached  from  the  bank,  by 
the  weight  of  which  the  roots  are  kept  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  river,  while  the  top  pointing  down  the 
stream,  preserves  a  vibrating  motion,  as  the  pres- 
sure of  the  current,  and  the  reaction  of  the  weight 
at  the  roots,  alternately  elevate  and  depress  it. 
Bradbury  observes,  "  that  the  period  of  its  oscil- 
latory motion  is  sometimes  of  several  minutes  du- 
ration. The  steersman  this  ii^stant  sees  all  the 
surface  of  the  river  smooth  and  tranquil,  and  the 
next  he  is  struck  with  horror  on  seeing  the  sawyer 


It)7 

belbre  him  raising  his  terrific  arms,  and  so  near 
that  neither  strength  nor  skill  can  save  his  vessel 
from  destiuction." 

On  my  arrival  at  Natchez,  I  took  up  my  abode 
at  a  comfortable  boarding-house  in   the   upper 
town ;  the  lower  town  being  a  perfect  VVapping, 
crowded  with  Kentucky  boats,  and  an  odd  miscel- 
laneous population  of  back-woodsmen  and  others 
from  the  western  country.    At  the  boarding-house, 
I  found  the  Governor  of  the  State ;  a  worthy  old 
gentleman  of  handsome  property,  and  of  a  highly 
respectable  family  in  Virginia.    He  took  his  meals 
at  the  common  table,  where  there  was  a  promis- 
cuous   assemblage    of   merchants,   agents,    and 
clerks;  and  I  kept  my  letter  of  introduction  to 
him  in  my  pocket  two  days,  little  aware  that  I 
was  in  his  company.    I  mention  the  circumstance, 
as  a  trait  of  the  manners  of  this  part  of  the  country, 
which  surprised  me  a  little,  as  1  had  met  at  Wash- 
ington Governors  of  other  states,  with  far  less  solid 
titles  to  personal  and  hereditary  respectability, 
aristocratical  enough  in  their  behaviour.     When 
I  had  delivered  my  letters  to  him,  he  insisted  on 
sending  his  servant  and  horses  with  me  in  my  calls 
on  some  of  the  principal  planters  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, for  the  roads  through  the  forests  are 
intricate,  and  you  seldom  meet  any  one  to  set  you 
right,  if  you  take  a  wrong  direction. 

Our  boarding-house  is  near  the  Mississippi, 
•which  is  now  falling  a  foot  every  day ;  the  spring 
flood  having  reached  its  height  while  I  was  at 
New-Orleans;  but  the  flood  from  the  Missouri 
has  nol  yet  arrived.     Nearly  opposite  the  win- 


•  1  '^1 


M     li 


Iff 


ibB 


dows  of  the  room  in  which  I  atn  writing,  the  river 
takes  one  of  its  noblest  sweeps,  under  what  are 
called  the  Bluflfs,  from  which  you  look  down  over 
it  upon  a  dense  forest,  which  stretches  to  the  hori- 
zon, and  in  which  the  sun  seems  to  extinguish  his 
latest  rays.  On  these  Bluffs  I  generally  take  my 
evening  walk,  and  please  myself  with  the  idea 
that  a  few  hours  previously  you  may  have  been 
watching  t  e  setting  of  this  glorious  luminary  be- 
hind our  favourite  hills;  for  in 

"  These  lands,  benpath  Hesperian  skies, 
Our  daylight  !>ujourn3  till  your  morrow  rise." 

Indeed  there  is  something  in  the  vicinity  of 
Natchez  which  perpetually  reminds  me  of  home. 
The  thick  clover,  the  scattered  knolls  with  their 
wood-crowned  summits,  differing  only  from  those 
most  familiar  to  me  in  the  magnificence  of  the  fo- 
liage with  which  they  are  shaded,  and  the  neat 
husbandry  of  the  intervening  plantations,  give  the 
whole  country  the  appearance  of  an  English  park. 
An  Irishman  with  whom  I  was  riding  last  night  re- 
marked, that  the  roads  strongly  resemble  those 
through  the  large  domains  in  Ireland.  I  leave 
you  to  make  due  allowance  for  our  anxiety  to 
trace  every  little  resemblance  to  our  native  land. 
At  this  distance  from  home  we  are  not  solicitous 
by  too  accurate  a  discrimination  to  dispel  an  illu- 
sion, if  it  be  one,  which  affords  us  so  much  plea- 
sure. You  remember  Humboldt's  beautiful  ob- 
servation :  ^'  If  amid  this  exotic  nature,  the  bellow 
of  a  cow  or  the  roaring  of  a  bull  were  heard  from 
the  depth  of  a  valley,  the  remembrance  of  our 
rounlrv  was  awakened    suddenly  at  the  sound. 


•» 


TJ  I 


ll)i> 


fn 


They  were  tike  distant  voices  resuuiidin^  I'roiii 
beyond  the  ocean,  and  with  magical  force  trans- 
porting us  from  one  hemisphere  to  the  other." 
But  the  gigantic  plane  and  maple  trees,  a  large 
proportion  of  the  seventy  or  eighty  different  spe- 
cies of  the  Am  rican  oak,  the  Sassafras,  the  Hic- 
cory,  the  Pride  of  India,  the  Catalpa,  the  Liquid 
Amber  rftyraciflua,  the  Liriodendron  Tulipifera. 
above  all,  the  Magnolia  G rand iflora,  one  hundred 
feet  high,  with  its  deep  green  leaves  and  broad 
white  flowers  expanded  like  a  full-blown  rose,  re- 
mind us  that  we  are  far  from  home,  while  at  night 
the  brilliancy  of  the  stars,  the  delicious  fragrance 
of  the  surrounding  woods,  and  especially  the  fire- 
flies which  sparkle  on  every  side,  seem  almost  to 
transport  us  into  the  regions  of  eastern  romance. 
We  are  also  often  gratified  with  the  sight  of  many 
beautiful  birds  which  are  strangers  to  us,  and 
sometimes  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  wild  deer.  A 
day  or  two  since,  1  rode  close  past  a  rattlesnake 
in  the  woods  which  we  afterwards  killed,  and  cut 
oflTits  rattle.  It  was  about  four  and  a  half  feet 
long.  There  is  much  in  the  plain  friendly  man- 
ners of  many  of  the  planters  in  this  neighbour- 
hood with  which  1  have  been  greatly  pleased ; 
and  if  slavery  were  banished  from  their  domes- 
tic and  agricultural  economy,  I  should  envy  their 
retired,  unostentatious,  and  independent  mode  of 
existence. 

The  men  are  generally  hospitable  and  well  in- 
formed as  respects  the  common  concerns  of  life, 
and  the  women  modest  and  obliging,  although 
rold  in  their  manners  at  first  acquaintance.  Ma- 


♦>•> 


m. 


hi 


J  70 


w 

fit' , 


\  I, 


uy  peiHuitb  with  incomes  ol  2000/.  to  3000/.  per 
annum,  live  somctiiing  in  the  style  of  our  second 
and  third  rate  farmers;  the  White  joiners  and  ar- 
tificers whom  they  may  be  employing  eating  with 
them,  and  forming  part  of  the  family.  If  you  take 
them  by  surprise,  they  make  you  welcome,  but  of- 
lier  no  apology  for  their  common  fare.  They  ge- 
nerally, however,  offer  you  a  bed  ;  and  if  you  re- 
main till  the  next  day,  assiduously  furnish  you 
with  a  most  plentiful  table.  I  visited  an  old 
couple  who  had  settled  nine  children  in  their 
neighbourhood,  (a  term  which  here  often  com- 
prises a  large  district,)  giving  each  of  them  about 
1000  acres  of  land  and  a  stock  of  Negroes,  and 
retaining  for  themselves  only  just  sufficient  for 
their  wants,  and  to  supply  a  little  occupation.  In 
the  higher  ranks  of  the  plain  planters,  you  find  a 
state  of  society  which  I  think  must  strongly  resem- 
ble that  of  our  second-rate  country  gentlemen 
or  yeomanry  seventy  or  eighty  years  since ;  the 
females  being  brought  up  strictly,  with  little 
knowledge,  and  great  attention  to  personal  neat- 
ness and  propriety,  and  the  men  filling  alternate- 
ly the  situation  of  soldiers,  justices,  and  planters. 
There  are,  however,  some  families  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Natchez,  who  live  much  in  the  style 
of  the  higher  classes  in  England,  possessing  po- 
lished manners,  and  respectable  literary  acquire- 
ments. Their  houses  are  spacious  and  handsome, 
and  their  grounds  are  laid  out  like  a  forest  park. 
In  the  society  of  some  of  these  families  I  passed  a 
few  days  very  agreeably ;  and  while  listening  to 
some  of  our  own  favourite  melodies  on  the  har|» 


•'**r<'.': 


I 


171 


and  piano  t'ortc,  I  could  have  i'ancied  niyselt'on  tli«r 
banks  of  the  Lune  or  the  Mersev,  rather  than  on 
those  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  younger  branches  of  many  of  these  fami- 
lies have  been  educated,  the  young  men  at  the 
colleges  in  the  northern  and  eastern  States :  and 
the  young  ladies  at  boarding  schools  in  Philadel- 
phia ;  and  some  of  them  have  formed  matrimonial 
connexions  with  northern  families.  The  tastes 
and  feelings,  as  well  as  the  accomplishments  and 
literature,  of  the  north,  are  thus  gradually  intro- 
duced into  these  southern  regions ;  and  one  hap- 
py consequence  is  a  degree  of  repugnance  to  the 
slave  system  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  community,  and  a  growing  desire 
to  mitigate  its  severities  on  the.part  of  others.  In- 
deed, it  is  impossible  that,  assimilated  as  many  of 
them  must  be  in  mental  habits  and  moral  feelings 
to  the  society  in  which  they  were  educated,  and 
in  which  slavery  is  an  object  of  abhorrence,  they 
should  become  reconciled  at  once  to  the  violation 
of  the  natural  rights  of  an  unoffending  class  ol* 
their  fellow-creatures,  or  capable  of  witnessing, 
without  horror,  the  dreadful  scenes  occasionally 
exhibited  here.  The  other  day  I  passed  a  plan- 
tation whose  owner  a  few  months  before  had  shot 
one  of  his  slaves ;  and  I  conversed  with  a  mild 
young  planter,  I  think  not  twenty-two  years  old, 
who  had  also  shot  a  slave  within  a  year.  The  of- 
fence, in  both  cases,  was  stated  to  be  running 
away,  and  no  notice  whatever  was  taken  of  either 
of  the  murders.  A  friend  of  mine  who  has  resid- 
ed here  some  time,  told  me  that  calling:  one  morn* 


i;4   i 


I 


I  '  il 


i 


'syrfi,,7ii^^ 


)7'2 


lug  on  a  luoHt  rcHpectablc  planter,  a  man  of  emi- 
nently humane  and  amiable  manners,  he  was  snr- 
prised  to  sec  him  sitting  in  his  virandah  with  his 
gun  in  his  hand,  eaniestly  watching  a  slave  in  the 
court,  who  was  looking  up  at  him  with  great  emo- 
tion, as  it'  meditating  an  escape.  By  and  by  the 
overlooker  came  and  took  the  slave  away.  My 
friend  turned  to  the  planter,  and  asked  him  what 
was  the  matter.  He  replied,  '•''  While  I  was  at 
breakfast,  that  Negro  came  and  delivered  him- 
self up,  telling  me  that  he  had  run  away  from 
my  plantation,  to  avoid  a  threatened  flogging, 
but  that,  as  he  had  returned  voluntarily,  he  hop- 
ed I  would  intercede  with  the  overseer  and  get 
him  excused.  I  told  him  I  seldom  interfered 
with  the  overseeri  but  would  send  and  inquire 
into  the  circumstances.  I  sent  for  him,  but  the 
Negro  in  the  mean  time,  apprehending  the  re- 
sult, looked  as  if  he  would  dart  off  into  (he  woods. 
1  ordered  my  gun,  and  if  he  had  attempted  to  stir, 
I  should  have  been  obliged  to  shoot  him  dead ; 
for  there  is  no  other  way  of  enforcing  obedience 
and  subordination.'^ 

A  very  short  time  since,  a  cruel  wealthy  plan- 
ter tried  to  work  his  slaves  half  the  night  as  well 
as  the  whole  of  the  day.  They  remonstrated 
with  the  overseer  and  became  refractory,  on 
which  the  planter  undertook  to  control  them. — 
He  took  his  seat  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  to  in- 
spect them,  with  his  gun  in  his  hand,  to  shoot 
the  tirst  who  should  shrink.  About  twelve 
o'clock  at  night  he  fell  asleep.  The  slaves 
seized  his  gun.  shot  him,  and  burnt  him  to  ashes 


17;{ 


oil  the  tires  which    he  was  compelling  them  td 
make  at  midnight^  of  the  wood  ihey  were  em- 
ployed ill    clearing.     The   case  was  8o  glaring, 
and  the  planter^s  cruelty  so  notorious,  that  the 
matter  was  hushed  up  as  h(>1I  as  it  could  be,  and 
the  slaves  were  not  punished ;  though  while  at 
Charleston  1  saw  an  account  of  a  young  Negro 
woman  being  burnt  to  death  in  South  Carolina 
the  week  before,  for  murdering  her  master.     An 
acquaintance    of  mine  told   me  he  was  staying 
at  the  time  at  an  inn  in  the  neighbourhood,  from 
which  many  of  the  company  went  to  see  the  hor- 
rid spectacle.     On  so  serious  a  subject  as  this,  I 
am  particularly  guarded  in  mentioning  to  you  no- 
thing for  which  I  have  not  unquestionable   au- 
thority.    The  following    fact    rests    on  the  evi- 
dence of  my  own  senses.     At  a  dining  party  of 
five  or  six  gentlemen,  I  heard  one  of  the  guests, 
who  is  reputed  a  respectable  planter,  say,  in  the 
course  of  conversation,  that  he  shot  at  one  of  his 
slaves  last  year  with  intent  to  kill  him  for  running 
away ;  that  on  another  occasion,  finding  that  two 
runaway  slaves  had  taken  refuge  on  his  plantation, 
he  invited  some  of  his  friends  out  of  town  to  din- 
ner and  a  frolic  ;  that  after  dinner  they  went  out 
to  hunt  the  slaves,  and  hearing  a  rustling  in  the 
reeds  or  canes  in  which  they  believed  them  to  be 
concealed,  "  they  all  fired  at  their  ^«me,  but  un- 
fortunately missed." — Does   not  your  blood  cur- 
dle ?     Yet  he  did  not  appear  to  be  sensible  that 
he  was  telling  any  thing  extraordinary,  nor  to  un- 
derstand the  silence  of  astonishment  and  horror, 
f  could   extend  this  sad   recital:  but  whv  shouhl 


171 


I  harrow  up  your  feelings?  No  incident  could 
supply,  indeed  iiuAgination  could  scarcely  con- 
ceive, a  more  striking  and  decisive  proof  than  is 
afforded  by  the  last  anecdote,  of  the  degree  to 
which  the  Negro  is  degraded  in  the  public  esti- 
mation. If  any  place  is  allotted  to  him  in  the 
scale  of  humanity,  it  is  so  low,  and  ho  distant  from 
that  occupied  by  his  White  brethren,  as  for  the 
most  part  to  exclude  him  from  their  sympathy. 
Experience  proves,  what  reason  would  antici- 
pate, that  it  is  impossible  to  regard  the  same  ob- 
jects one  moment  as  merchandise  or  cattle,  and 
the  next  as  fellow-men.  The  planter  whom  ex- 
ample and  h;ibit  have  led  to  believe,  that  he  must 
render  the  Negro  industrious  by  the  use  of  the 
lash,  and  obedient  by  shooting  the  refractory,  acts 
as  you  and  1  should  probably  have  acted  under 
similar  circumstances;  but  is  not  that  a  horrible 
system  which  can  so  eradicate  from  men  of  edu- 
cation and  liberal  attainments  all  fellow  feeling 
for  their  kind  ?  Nothing  but  familiarity  with  the 
degradation  and  sufferings  of  the  Negroes  could 
induce  their  White  masters,  many  of  whom  are 
respectable,  liberal,  and  humane  in  the  ordinary 
relatione  of  life,  to  tolerate  the  constant  use  of  the 
iash.  You  continually  see  the  overseer  stalking 
about  with  his  long  lash  whip,  while  the  poor 
slaves  are  toiling  with  litlle  rest  or  respite  from 
morr»  to  night — for  here  I  observe  they  seem  to 
work  m.iny  hours  longer  than  in  Carolina.  A 
friend  told  me,  tint  while  walking  on  the  Lev<?e  at 
New-Orleans,  \\r  has  distinctly  heard  the  succes- 
sive lashes  on  the  back  of  a  poor  slave  on  I  he  oth- 


.1' ,  I 


|7j 


cr  side  of  the  Mississippi,  which  is  hall'  a-mile 
across.  Another  friend,  who  was  riding  with  me 
here,  told  me,  that  one  evening  lately,  spending  a 
night  at  the  house  of  a  planter  who  was  from 
home,  the  planter^s  wife  said  how  glad  she  was  to 
see  him,  as  she  was  just  going  to  flog  one  of  her 
slaves,  and  he  would  be  kind  enough  to  save  her 
the  trouble.  My  friend,  however,  who  was  from 
the  north,  had  not  been  accustomed  to  the  office 
of  executioner,  and  did  not  choose  to  take  the 
hint,  broad  at  it  was.  The  lady  resumed  the 
subject  before  supper,  and  again  as  soon  as  the 
cloth  was  drawn,  when  my  friend  told  her  he 
could  not  think  of  complying  with  her  wishes. 
She  was  extremely  offended,  and  evinced  her  dis- 
pleasure so  openly,  that  had  there  been  another 
house  within  a  few  miles,  my  friend  would  have 
withdrawn.  Before  bed-time,  hov*ever,  another 
traveller  arrived,  to  whom  the  lady  complained 
aloud  of  the  ungentlemanly  conduct  of  her  first 
guest,  who  in  common  courtesy  undertook  to  la- 
cerate Cato^s  back,  without  inquiring  into  his  of- 
fence.  You  will  not  wonder,  after  these  details, 
that  a  White  man  considers  it  a  degradation  to 
eat  with  a  Black  one ;  and  that  if  you  take  a 
White  servant  to  a  planter's  or  an  inn,  he  is  oblig- 
ed to  have  separate  meals ;  and,  where  it  is  prac- 
ticable, an  apartment  separate  from  the  Black 
servants.  I  remember  that  as  the  mail  stopped 
in  Virginia  and  (^arolina,  I  generally  saw  a  little 
White  boy  stuffed  in  one  corner ;  and  for  a  long 
time  without  being  particularly  struck  with  the 
tircumstaiice.     At   last,  something  le-idin^  me  to 


f 


1  I 


'  ftl 


:.! 


Li 


:  <■'.-;., , 


I'm 


r 


I'    \ 


inquire  into  the  cause.,  I  found  there  was  a  law 
prohibiting  the  mail  bags  being  intrusted  to  a 
Black  man.  Now,  as  the  coachmen  were  Negroes, 
thit  little  lad  was  stuffed  in,  as  a  matter  of  form, 
as  the  nominal  White  guard  of  the  United  States 
mail  bags ! 

And  who  are  these  fellow-creatures  who  are 
thus  degraded  below  the  level  of  their  kind;  and 
what  is  the  crime  which  is  visited  with  the  atro- 
cious cruelties  I  have  detailed  ?  Are  ihey  canni- 
bals, who  have  invaded  these  peaceful  regions  to 
massacre  a!id  devour  its  inhabitants  ?  monsters, 
whom  no  bonds  of  amity  can  restrain  from  rapine 
and  devastation ;  whose  hand  is  against  every 
man,  and  every  man's  hand,  therefore,  of  necessi- 
ty and  in  self-defence,  agairist  them?  No,  ray 
friend :  they  are  the  simple,  docile,  unoflfending 
natives  of  a  distant  lan<l,  whose  colour  is  their 
crime,  and  who  have  been  torn  from  their  kin- 
dred and  their  country  by  stratagem  and  force. 
They  are  the  people  of  whom  Mungo  Park  ob- 
serves, after  alluding  to  those  traces  of  our  gener- 
al depravity  which  are  to  be  found  among  the  Ne- 
groes as  much  as  in  every  other  branch  of  the  hu- 
man family  ;  "  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  forget  the 
disinterested  charily  and  lender  solicitude  of  ma- 
ny of  these  poor  heathens,  from  the  sovereign  of 
Sego  to  the  poor  women  who  received  me  at  dif- 
ferent limes  into  their  cottages  when  I  was  perish- 
ing with  hunger,  ^sympathized  with  me  in  my  suf- 
ferings, relieved  my  distresses,  and  contributed  to 
my  safely.  This  acknowledgment,  however,  is 
more   partii'iilarlv  due  <o  (he  li'male  pari  of  the 


(I 


i  /  / 


natioii.  Ill  all  my  wanderings  and  wretchedness, 
1  have  found  ihefn  uniformly  kind  and  compassion- 
ate;  and  1  can  truly  say,  as  my  predecessor,  Mr. 
J.edyard,  has  eloquently  sai(V  before  me,  To  a 
iNegro  woman  I  never  addressed  myself  in  the  lan- 
guage of  decency  and  friendship  without  receiv- 
ing a  <!ecent  and  friendly  answer.  If  I  was  hun- 
gry and  thirsty,  wet  or  sick,  they  did  not  hesitate, 
like  the  men,  to  perform  a  generous  action.  In  so 
free  and  kind  a  manner  did  they  contribute  to  my 
relief,  that  if  I  was  dry,  I  drank  the  sweetest 
draught,  and  if  hungry,  I  eat  the  coarsest  morsel, 
with  a  double  relish." 

These  are  the  people  whose  progressive  im- 
provement will.  I  hope,  ere  long,  vindicate  the 
prophetic  strain  of  one  of  our  most  beautiful  and 
devotional  poets : 

But  his  moth«r's  eye 

That  ^azc"?  on  him  from  her  warmest  sky, 
Sf  es  in  1^  flexile  limits  untutored  grace, 
VifWfTiim  his  forohead,  bi-auty  in  his  face  ; 
Sfes  in  his  hr<!ast  where  lawless  passions  rove, 
The  heart  of  frendship,  and  the  home  of  love  ; 
f">es  in  his  mind,  where  desolation  reijrns, 
Fierce  as  his  clime,  uncultured  as  his  plains, 
A  soil  where  virtue's  fairest  flowers  mii^lif  shoot, 
And  trees  of  scierire  bend  with  glorious  fruit; 
Sees  in  his  soul,  iiivulved  in  thickest  night, 
An  emanation  of  eternal  light. 
Ordained  midst  sinking  worlds  his  du^t  to  Are, 
And  shine  for  ever  when  ilie  stars  expire. 

But  I  must  lay  down  my  pen  for  the  present ; 
though  I  have  much  more  to  say  on  the  subject, 
and  shall  resume  it  before  I  leave  this  place. — f 
am,  &c. 


i 


I 

f  ; 
( 


•23 


I7« 


LETTHFl  X\. 


il 


t 

1 


n 

I 


'  -:  ! 


d 


i( 


^Yaiclie:,  Stulf  oj'.\1i>>si.ssipiu. 

I  NOW  resume  the  afflicting  Rubject  on  which  I 
was  aiUlressing  you.  An  extensive  Slave-trade  is 
carried  on  between  these  regions  and  those  wesi- 
ern  parts  of  the  States  of  Virginia,  Marylaiid,  the 
(Jarolinas,  and  Georgia,  in  which  they  find  it  more 
profitable  to  breed  slaves  for  the  market,  than  to 
raise  the  appropriate  produce  of  the  soil.  I  have 
already  mentioned  the  numerous  gangs  which  I 
continually  fell  in  with  in  my  route  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico:  and  I  have  understood 
that  from  Maryland  and  Virginia  alone,  from  4000 
to  5000  per  annum  are  occasionally  sent  down  to 
New-Orleans ;  a  place,  the  very  name  of  which 
seems  to  strike  terror  into  the  slaves  and  free  Ne- 
groes of  the  Middle  States.  I  was  asked  by  a 
very  intelligent  free  Black  serva^  at  the  house 
where  I  lodged  in  Philadelphia,  to  tell  him  rcu/li^ 
whether  the  free  Negroes  whom  the  Colonization 
Society  were  professitig  to  send  to  Africa,  were 
not  actually  sent  to  New-Orleans;  as  it  was  said, 
that  as  soon  as  the  vessel  was  out  of  sight  of  land, 
she  steered  her  course  thither;  that  he  knew  there 
were  IViends  to  the  Negroes  in  the  Society,  who 
would  not  agree  to  deceive  and  sell  them,  but  he 
thought  they  might  be  deceived  themselves,  and 
that  nothing  but  this  apprehension  had  prevented 
him  from  offering  to  go  to  Africa,  as  he  much  liked 
the  plai!. 

Inslaiicf'S  are  not  rare  of  Slaves  destroyiiig  them- 


tvFi 


i;!» 


them- 


selves, by  cullinjr  llieir  throats,  or  other  violent 
measures,  to  avoid  being  sent  to  Georgia  or  New- 
Orleans.  An  instance  is  on  reeoru  of  a  poor  Black 
woman,  in  the  winter  of  1815,  torn  from  her  hus- 
band, and  destined  for  transportation  to  Georgia, 
throwing  herself  at  daybreak  from  the  third  story 
of  a  tavern  in  Wasiiington  ;  and  slaves  are  march- 
ed in  open  day  in  manacles,  on  their  melancholy 
journey  southward,  past  the  very  walls  of  the  Ca- 
pitol, where  the  Senate  of  this  free  Kepublic  con- 
duct their  deliberations.  Indeed,  this  trade  be- 
tween the  Middle  and  Southern  States  has  given 
rise  to  the  horrible  practice  of  kidnapping  free 
black  men,  and  has  introduced  into  the  heart  of  a 
country  pre-eminently  proud  of  her  free  institu- 
tions, a  sort  of  tejjria,  or  man-stealing,  which  one 
liad  hoped  was  confined  to  the  deserts  of  Africa. 
It  is  stated  by  Mr.  Torrey,  an  American  physician, 
in  a  work  which  he  has  published,  called  "  Anu'ri- 
can  Slave  Trade,"  that  under  the  existing  laws,  if 
a  "  Free  Coloured  man  travels  without  passports 
certifying  his  right  to  his  liberty, he  is  generally  ap- 
prehended, and  frequently  plunged  (with  his  pro- 
geny) into  slavery  by  the  operation  of  the  laws." 
He  observes  ;  "  The  preceduig  facts  cl.'.irly  exem- 
plify the  safety  with  which  the  free-horn  (Black) 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States  may  be  oflered  for 
sale,  and  sold,  even  in  the  metropolis  of  liberty,  as 
oxen,  even  to  those  who  are  notified  of  the  fact, 
and  are  perhaps  convinced  that  they  are  free.'''' 

But  why  do  I  enter  into  these  sad  details  .•*  Is  it 
to  reproach  America  with  a  stain  with  which  our 
own  inunaculat<«  count  rv  is  unsulli<'«i  ^     I  have  rK>f 


'i 


'  t 


1 

i* 


,* ' 


180 


so  forgotten  the  nature  of  our  own  colonial  bon- 
dage, nor  the  melancholy  fact  that  Britons  first  in- 
troduced slavery  on  these  western  shores. 

Is  it,  then,  to  place  her  capital  in  humiliating 
contrast  with  the  metropolis  of  my  native  land?  I 
can  see  no  distinction  in  principle  between  selling 
a  gang  of  Negroes  in  the  city  of  Washington,  and 
executing  in  the  city  of  London  a  bill  of  sale  of  a 
similar  gang  in  our  own  West  India  islands. 

Is  it  then  to  stigmatize  slave-holders  in  general, 
as  lax  in  their  moral  principles,  savage  in  their 
dispositions,  and  dead  to  every  feeling  of  justice 
and  humanity  ?  Nothing  is  farther  from  my  inten- 
tion than  to  insinuate  an  imputation  so  belied  by 
facts.  Among  those  who  have  the  misfortune  to 
be  slave-holders,  I  can  number  some  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  benevolent  individuals  it  has  ever 
been  my  lot  to  know.  And  were  it  otherwise,  can 
I  forget  that  General  Washington  was  a  Virginian 
slave-holder  ? 

Why,  then,  do  I  enter  into  these  sad  details  ? 
why  but  to  disclose  to  you  the  innate  deformity  of 
slavery  itself,  the  evils  inherent  in  its  very  nature  ; 
to  exhibit  to  your  view  the  dark  aspect  which  it 
assumes,  and  the  horrid  atrocities  which  it  gives 
birth  to,  even  under  a  government  pre-eminently 
free ;  in  the  bosom  of  a  young  and  enlightened 
people,  and  in  the  bread  daylight  and  sunshine  of 
benign  and  liberal  institutions.  And  is  this  a  sys- 
tem which  England  and  America,  pre-eminent 
among  the  nations,  can  justify  and  uphold  ?  Is  this 
a  system  which  they  are  willing  to  perpetuate  ?  Is 
this  a  svstem  which  in  our  dav  and  generation,  a 


/'t 


li;l 


day  and  generation  of  Bible  Societies  and  Mis- 
sionary Societies,  we  can  be  content  to  hand  down 
to  posterity  without  one  note  of  reprobation,  one 
evidence  of  contrition,  one  step  towards  its  ulti- 
mate, even  though  remote,  extinction  ?  Do  we 
glory  in  having  aboHshed  our  Slave-trade,  and 
shall  we  smile  with  complacency  on  slavery  itself? 
Shall  we,  the  younger  sons  of  our  highly  favoured 
island,  glorious  in  arts  and  arms,  resplendent  with 
literature  and  science,  but  yet  more  resplendent 
with  the  flame  of  philanthropy,  and  most  of  all  with 
the  bright  light  of  Christianity, — shall  we  deem  it 
sufficient  to  glow  with  admiration  of  the  labours 
of  our  illustrious  compatriots,  instead  of  stretcli- 
ing  forward  to  catch  their  mantle,  imbibe  their  spi- 
rit, and  humbly^  but  resolutely,  follow  up  their 
work  ? 

If  to  reduce  the  African  to  slavery  was  a  violation  of 
his  natural  rights^  to  hold  him  in  bondage  one  moment 
longer  than  is  necessary  to  prepare  him  for  freedom^  is 
to  perpetuate  and  participate  in  the  injustice.  And  what 
though  the  sacrifice  should  be  a  costly  one,  and 
the  task  of  emancipation  perplexing  and  difficult  r* 
no  sacrifice  is  so  costly  as  the  sacrifice  of  justice 
and  humanity;  no  expectation  more  unfounded 
and  puerile  than  that  of  returning  without  pain  and 
effort  from  the  dark  and  devious  labyrinths  of  er- 
ror. 

"  Facilis  drscensu..  Averni ; 
Sed  revocare  gradiim  supcrasqne  evadere  ad  auras, 
Hoc  opus  ;  hie  labor  est. ." 

But  even  if  principle  did  not  require  the  sacri- 
fice, an  enlightened  view  of  sell-interest  would  sug- 
gest it.     If  ihe  GordijMi  knot  bo  not  untied,  if  will  Ite 


■I 


"■>»^*v_.     "  la 


I«2 


'  i  ■ 


J'   i. 


rtif.  *•  I  tremble  for  my  country,''  saiil  the  late  Pre- 
sident, Mr.  Jefferson ;  '"'  1  tremble  lor  my  country, 
when  I  reflect  that  God  Is  just.^^  • 

And  who  that  views  with  a  dispassionate  eye  the 
state  of  our  West  India  colonies,  and  of  the  slave- 
holding  states  of  America,  can  imagine  that  the 
present  system  of  things  there  can  be  of  very  long 
duration?  That  emancipation  is  a  most  diflicult 
and  perplexing  problem,  I  readily  admit;  but  that 
it  is  visionary  and  impracticable  no  one  can  main- 
tain  who  believes  slavery  to  be  at  variance  with 
the  laws  of  our  Creator,  and  obedience  to  his  laws 
the  duty  of  his  creatures.  And  are  there  no  in- 
stances on  record  to  prove  its  practicability  ?  none 
in  the  contemporaneous  history  of  the  South  Ame- 
rican provinces  ?  none  in  the  annals  of  the  United 
States.**  none  in  the  gradual  revolutions  of  society 
in  Europe.^  none  in  the  progress  of  liberty  in 
Great  Britain  herself.'^ 

In  the  New-England  States,  once  polluted  with 
slavery,  not  a  trace  now  remains  of  that  odious 
system;  and  even  so  long  since  as  the  year  1770, 
in  a  suit  on  the  part  of  several  Slaves  in  Massachu- 
setts against  their  masters  for  their  freedom,  and 
for  wages  for  past  services,  the  Negroes  obtained 
a  verdict,  which  gave  a  death-blow  to  slavery 
there.  In  New-York  and  Pennsvlvania,  emanci- 
pation  has  been  proceeding  systematically  for 
years,  and  in  three  or  four  years  the  fixed  period 
will  arrive  when  it  will  be  complete.  In  other 
parts  of  America,  slavery  exhibits  itself  in  those 
intermediate  and  transitive  states,    which  are  at 


(.  :      t 


vFll 


IM.S 


DiM'.e  a  gradual  Mpproach  to  (reedoni,  ami  an  ex- 
cellent preparation  for  it. 

In  England,  slavery,  which  once  blackened  her 
lair  fields,  "  was  not  ploughed   up  by  revolution, 
or  mown  down  by  the  scythe  of  legislative  aboli- 
tion, but  was   plucked  up,  stalk  by  stalk,  by  the 
progressive  hand  of  private  and  voluntary  enfran- 
chisement.    Slavery  ceased  in   England  only  be- 
cause the  last  Slave  at  length  obtained  his  manu- 
mission, or  died  without  a  child.  VVhy,  then,  should 
not  the  iuture  extinction  of  slavery  in  the  colonie?* 
be  accomplished  by  the  same  happy  means  which 
formerly  put  an  end  to  it  in  England — namely,  by 
a  benign,  though  insensible,  revolution  in  opinions 
and  manners;  by  the  encouragement  of  particular 
manumissions,  and  the  progressive  melioration  of 
the  condition  of  the  Slaves,  till  it  should  slide  in- 
sensibly into  freedom?"     Not  that  the  planters 
should  be  required  to  maiuimit  their  Negroes,  es- 
pecially on  a  sudtlen,  without  compensation.     It 
would   be    robbery,  under  the  garb  of  merry,  to 
compel  one  class  of  individuals  to  atone  for  the  in- 
justice of  a  nation.     But  the   planters  may,  and 
ought,  to  be  required  to  ado|)t  such  plans  for  im- 
proving the  social,  moral,  and  intellectual  condi- 
tion of  their  slaves,  as  may,  and  wjII,  facilitate  their 
ultimate  emancipation.     That  much  remains  to  be 
done  in  this  respect  in.imerica^  is  evidetit  from  the 
facts  I  have  detailed  from  a  cursory  glance  at  the 
Code  Noir,  and  from  the  general  neglect  and  dis- 
couragement (not,  however,  without  many  excep- 
tions) of  education  and  religious  instruction  among 
the  Negroes.     That  still  inorr  remain's  to  be  doiir 


4) 


■   !   .1 


1 .  til 


•    ) 


MM 


'.') 


in  our  own  ^'f.st-liul/u  islands,  is  evident  Mom  tlie 
non-increase,  or  scarcel}f  perceplible  increase,  of 
the  numbers  ol  the  Negroes,  wliile  in  I  lie  country 
iroiu  wliici)  I  am  writitig,  in  a  climate  much  less 
favourable,  anti  in  occuptitions  at  least  as  delete- 
rious, they  multiply  at  the  rate  of  three  lo  five  per 
cent,  per  annum.  The  annual  returns  now  making 
will  show  the  precise  ratio. 

Lfjst  Sunday  at  the  church  (till  lately  there  was 
no  church  here,)  two  Methodist  ministers  from 
Ohio  pnMchcd,  having  stopped  hereon  tiieir  way 
down  the  river  to  New-Orleans  with  produce.  At 
the  close  of  the  service  one  of  them  rose,  and  said, 
that  they  did  not  come  there  to  interfere  with  the 
institutions  of  society,  or  to  excite  commotion  or 
confusion,  but  that  it  was  their  wish  to  address  the 
Black  population  in  the  evening,  if  the  planters 
should  make  no  objection ;  that  they  knew  it  would 
not  be  gen(  rally  agreeable  to  the  planters,  but 
they  called  upon  them  solemnly  to  consider  the 
dreadful  responsibility  thry  would  incur  if  they 
prevented  their  Negroes  from  hearing  the  message 
sent  by  our  gracious  Creator  to  the  whole  family 
of  the  human  race.  A  deep  silence  followed,  no 
planter  opposed,  and,  to  the  surprise  of  many  pre- 
sent, the  ministers  were  allowed  to  preach  to  the 
Slaves. 

I  lately  saw  in  the  newspapers  a  notice  from  the 
mayor  of  one  of  the  principal  cities  in  the  South, 
presenting  an  extract  from  the  law  which  prohi- 
bits the  instruction  of  Slaves,  expressing  his  regret 
to  observe  that  this  law  had  been  infringed  upon 
in  several  instances  lately,  by  teaching  the  Slaves 


\SCt 


to  rca<3  ami  write;  and  declari.ig  his  iiitcntioti  to 
indict  tho  penalty  if  the  olfeiice  ."-hould  he  repeat- 
ed. And  yet  in  the  Northern  States,  among  the 
most  astoiiithinir  ohjects  which  I  saw  were  the 
schook;  in  which  some  hundfeds  of  tree  Black  Al- 
ricans  were  receiving  the  elements  oi'a  somewhat 
liberal  education,  and  where  they  exhibited  both 
industry  and  intelligence. 

I  am  sure  I  shall  not  have  wearied,  however 
much  I  may  have  afflicted  you,  with  the  Ibregoing 
communications;  but  it  is  time  I  should  now  turn 
to  other  subjerts.  You  ask  me  to  inform  you  at 
what  price  a  planter  can  afford  to  sell  his  cotton. 
To  this  question  it  is  diificult  to  reply  without  cu- 
tering  into  mnny  particulars;  since,  paradoxical 
as  it  may  appear,  the  expenses  of  production  de- 
pend in  a  great  measure  on  the  current  value  of 
cotton,  and  follow  the  more  material  fluctuations 
in  its  market  price.  Thus,  when  cotton  rises,  the 
value  of  negroes  advances  in  about  the  same  pro- 
portion. Indian  corn,  their  principal  article  of 
subsistence,  follows,  but  at  a  little  distance,  be- 
cause it  tan  be  imported  from  other  states;  and 
land  at  a  still  greater,  because  almost  every  plant- 
er possesses  more  than  he  actually  cultivates.  Cor- 
responding effects  are  produced  by  a  fall  of  cot- 
ton in  foreign  markets.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  a  planter  may  realize  at  very  different  prices 
of  cotton  the  same  interest  in  his  capital,  under- 
standing by  his  capital  the  sum  which  his  land  and 
Negroes  would  command  at  the  respective  peri- 
ods, or  which  if  would  be  necessary  to  invest  in 
land  and  Negroes,  in  order  to  produce  the  same 

24 


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Photograidiic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


■^v 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14SS0 

(716)  873-4503 


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:.jvi 


quantity  of  cotton.  Alterations  in  the  value  of 
cotton,  therefore,  afiect  the  value  of  his  capital^  but 
not  the  rate  of  interest,  which  he  derives  from  it; 
and  fifteen  cents  per  lb.,  when  the  value  is  reduc- 
ed one  half,  may  afford  him  the  average  prices  of 
stock  in  the  country  in  which  he  resides,  as  cer- 
tainly as  thirty  cents  before  the  reduction.  The 
expense  of  clothing  the  Negroes  is  almost  the  on- 
ly element  in  the  cost  of  production  of  cotton, 
which  does  not  follow  its  fluctuations  in  value,  and 
this  is  too  insignificant  to  require  notice.  Could 
land  and  Negroes,  therefore,  in  any  particular 
country  be  applied  to  no  other  purpose  than  the 
production  of  the  subsistence  of  the  labourer  and 
of  cotton,  the  planter  might  afford  to  sell  his  cot- 
ton, or,  in  other  words,  havf  :n  inducement  to  cul- 
tivate^ it,  at  any  price  (three  or  four  cents,  for  in- 
stance) i^t  which  his  crop  would  leave  a  surplus 
after  paying  the  expense  of  clothing  his  Negroes ; 
a  sale  of  his  land  and  Negroes  being  on  this  sup- 
position impracticable,  and  his  only  choice  lying 
between  a  small  profit  and  none.  This,  however, 
is  no  where  absolutely  the  case ;  and  in  order,  there- 
fore, to  judge  of  the  probability  of  an  increase  or 
diminution  in  the  culture  of  cotton,  it  is  of  less  con- 
sequence to  inquire  into  the  cost  of  production  at 
any  particular  time  (which  may  be  easily  ascer- 
tained, the  items  which  compose  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction being  taken  at  their  current  r$ites)  than  to 
ascertain  the  lowest  price  at  which  cotton  would 
yield  as  !arge  a  return  as  other  articles  which  might 
be  substituted  in  its  place.  The  price  of  other  ar- 
ticles, therefore,  enters  essentially  into  the  ques- 


187 


tion,  and  any  permanent  rise  or  fall  in  the  price  of 
these  would  have  the  same  effect  in  increasing  or 
diminishing  the  growth  of  cotton,  as  a  rise  or  fall 
in  the  price  of  cotton  itself.  For  instance,  if  indi- 
go at  one  dollar  per  lb.  and  cotton  at  fifteen  cents 
per  lb.  afforded  an  equal  remuneration  to  the 
planter,  it  might  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him 
which  he  should  cultivate ;  but  if  indigo  perma- 
nently advanced  to  two  dollars,  or  cotton  perma- 
nently fell  to  ten  cents  per  lb.,  the  culture  of  indi- 
go would  be  materially  increased,  and  that  of  cot- 
ton proportionably  diminished.  Now  to  apply  this 
to  the  actual  situation  of  the  United  States — In 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the  principal  articles 
of  culture  at  present  are  rice,  a  little  tobacco,  In- 
dian corn,  and  cotton.  The  tobacco  and  rice  lands 
are  not  generally  suitable  for  the  culture  of  cotton, 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  any  probable  variation  in 
their  relative  value  would  lead  to  any  material  al- 
teration in  th  ^  relative  extent  of  their  cultivation. 
The  soil,  however,  most  suitable  for  the  culture 
of  cotton,  is  very  congenial  to  the  growth  of  In- 
dian corn.  If,  therefore,  we  could  conceive  of  a 
foreign  demand  for  Indian  corn  so  extensive  as  to 
sustain  it  permanently  at  a  price  which  would 
leave  a  greater  profit  than  the  culture  of  cotton, 
the  cultivation  of  the  latter  would  no  doubt  de- 
cline. This,  however,  cannot  be  anticipated,  as 
the  enormous  quantity  which  would  be  raised 
would  soon  depress  the  price,  and  the  foreign 
markets  would  ultimately  be  supplied  by  those 
states  which  possess  as  great,  or  greater  advanta- 
ges, for  the  cultivation  of  Indian  corn,  and  are  les« 


M 


ti 


I       i/J 


fi  f 


18li 


ri'  I 


m 


aJuptcJ  tor  the  production  of  other  staples.  It 
does  not,  therefore,  appe.ir  probable  (the  cultiva- 
tion of  indigo  having  been  abandoned,  and  that  of 
hemp  easily  overdone,)  that  there  are  articles  of 
produce  which  in  Georgia  or  Carolina  could  be 
substituted  for  cotton,  even  though  that  article 
should  decline  considerably.  It  is  possible,  how- 
ever, to  transport  the  Negroes  to  other  states; 
and  it  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  inquire  whether 
any  culture  in  the  neighbouring  states  would  af- 
ford an  inducement  to  migration  in  case  of  a  ma- 
terial decline  in  the  price  of  cotton.  Sugar,  and 
perhaps  sugar  only,  does  alTord  such  an  induce- 
ment; but  its  growth  is  limited  by  a  certain  lati- 
tude, and  there  is  a  regular  supply  of  Slaves  from 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  not  previously  em- 
ployed in  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  and  more  than 
equal  to  the  annual  demand  for  the  culture  of  su- 
gar. Some  of  the  spare  lands  on  the  plantations 
is  generally  applied  to  the  growth  of  Indian  corn, 
for  the  subsistence  of  the  Slaves.  Their  subsis- 
tence on  a  cotton  plantation  may  be  regarded  as 
costing  the  planter  little  or  nothing,  since  his  Ne- 
groes could  plant  one  third  more  cotton  than  they 
can  pick.  The  Indian  corn,  therefore,  is  obtain- 
ed from  land  which  would  otherwise  be  unoccu- 
pied, and  labour  which  would  otherwise  be  un- 
employed. A  very  high  price  of  cotton,  indeed, 
will  tempt  the  planter  to  buy  his  Indian  corn,  and 
plant  more  cotton  ;  but  this  requires  a  degree  of 
cruelty,  in  overworking  the  Slaves  in  the  picking 
season,  which  marjy  are  unwilling  to  exercise, 
and  most  are   ashamed  to  avow.     Many  of  the 


189 


small  planters  told  me  that  they  were  always  un- 
comi'ortabie  when  cotton  was  high ;  as  they  put 
their  families,  as  it  were,  on  short  allowance,  and 
adopted  a  system  of  saving  and  scrambling,  for 
the  inconveniences  of  which  their  profits  did  not 
compf  nsate.  A  very  low  price  of  cotton  might, 
on  the  other  hand,  lessen  the  stimulus  to  exertion 
and  privation  ;  but  the  planters  are  very  general- 
ly in  debt,  and  are  therefore  compelled  to  activi- 
ty in  order  to  preserve  their  estates  in  their  own 
hands.  Those  who  wish  an  idle  agricultural  life, 
remove  to  the  cultivated  parts  of  the  western 
country. 

It  is  one  of  the  iriconveniences  to  which  slave- 
holders are  exposed  (especially  where  the  range 
of  the  articles  to  which  the  climate  is  favourable 
is  limited)  that  they  are  constantly  liable  to  a 
great  extinction  of  capital  by  a  reduction  in  the 
foreign  market  of  the   value  of  the  articles  they 
produce.     The  cost  of  production  in  that  coun- 
try, which  can  supply  the  articles  at  the  cheapest 
rate  and  in  suilicient  quantity,  fixes  the  price  to 
which  all  the  others  must  conform.     Now  if  that 
price  be  insufficient  to  remunerate  the  cultivator 
hy  free  labour^  he  discontinues  the  cultivation,  and 
dismisses  his  labourers.     The  cultivator  by  slave 
labour^  on  the  contrary,  being  compelled  still  to 
maintain   his   Slaves,   continues  also   to  employ 
them ;  but  the  value  of  the  articles  being  reduced, 
the  value  of  man^   the  machine  which  produces 
them,  is  depreciated  nearly  in  the  same  propor- 
tion, and  this  depreciation  may  proceed  so  far, 
that  the  labour  of  a  Slave  is  worth  so  little  more 


V 


i 


11 


1.1   , 


J  90 


tlian  his  maintenance  as  to  aflbrd  no  recoinpencc 
to  his  owner  for  care  and  superintendence.  In 
the  progress  towards  this  state  of  things,  manu- 
missions would  multiply  rapidly,  for  they  would 
cost  little ;  experiments  would  be  made  favoura- 
ble to  the  freedom  of  the  Negro ;  many  Slaves 
would  become  free  labourers,  and  slavery  would 
verge  towards  its  termination. 

Does  not  this  view  of  the  subject  throw  a  gleam 
of  hope  on  the  dark  picture  of  slavery  ?  If  the 
free  labour  of  the  East  can  produce  cotton,  rice, 
and  sugar  as  cheaply  as  has  been  stated,  may  it 
not  undermine,  and  gradually  exterminate,  the 
slave  labour  of  the  West?  The  indigo  of  Caroli- 
na, long  the  staple  of  that  state,  has  for  many 
years  been  entirely  superseded  by  the  cheaper 
indigo  of  India.  Upland  cotton  in  Carolina  and 
Georgia  has  fallen,  in  less  than  four  years,  from 
thirty  to  fifteen  cents  per  lb.  and  principally  by 
competition,  actual  and  prospective,  with  the  cot- 
ton of  Surat  and  Bengal.  Sugar  is  now  resorted 
to  wherever  the  planter  has  sufficient  capital,  and 
his  estate  is  within  the  latitude  favourable  to  its 
production;  but  for  this  article  legislative  sup- 
port has  already  been  secured  by  protecting  du- 
ties. 

Nor  is  it  from  free  labour  only  that  the  West- 
India  and  American  planters  have  much  to  fear. 
They  have  already  most  formidable  competitors 
in  those  colonies  into  which  the  ioiportation  of 
Slaves  is  still  admitted.  But  I  will  not  pursue  the 
subject.     I  will  only  add,  that  the  great  revolu- 


ii 


•^o* 


HM 


tions  which  the  natural  colirse  of  events  is  silent- 
ly effecting  in  the  West,  are  calculated  to  rivet 
the  attention  both  of  the  planter  and  of  the  phi- 
lanthropist, and  to  inspire  each  of  them  with  feel- 
ings of  the  most  intense  interest,  though  not  a  lit- 
tle differing  in  their  complexion. 

I  must  not  forget  to  tell  you,  long  as  my  letter  is, 
that  this  place  derives  its  name  from  the  Natch- 
ez, a  celebrated  tribe  of  Indians  extinguished 
some  time  since  with  circumstances  of  peculiar 
cruelty.  Dr.  Robertson  describes  them  as  distin- 
guished from  all  the  other  southern  tribes  by  he- 
reditary rank,  and  the  worship  of  the  sun.  The 
Choctaws,  of  whom  there  are  nearly  20,000  in 
this  state,  often  pay  us  a  visit.  I  have  not  men- 
tioned, either,  that  in  consequence  of  the  fever 
last  year,  more  than  half  of  the  families  seem  to 
be  in  mourning ;  and  instances  have  been  men- 
tioned to  me  of  great  generosity  on  the  part  of 
the  planters  towards  those  whom  the  ravages  of 
death  have  deprived  of  their  natural  protectors, 
and  left  orphans  and  destitute. 

We  hope  to  set  out  in  a  few  days  on  horse- 
back, through  the  Indian  country,  to  Richmond, 
in  Virginia. 


LETTER  XVI. 

Richmond,  Virginia,  20th  June,  1 820. 

My  letter  of  the  25th  of  May,  brought  us  to  the 
north-west  corner  of  the  state  of  Mississippi,  or 
rather  to  the  boundary  between  that  state  and 
Alabama.     I  propose  now  to  give  you  a  sketch  of 


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our  tour  from  the  state  of  Mississippi  across  the 
Alleghany  mountains  to  the  capital  of  Virginia, 
from  which  I  am  writing.  My  narrative  will  be 
chiefly  an  itinerary;  for,  as  I  cannot  consent  to 
fabricate  adventures  at  pleasure,  I  must  give  you 
the  memoranda  of  my  journal  just  as  they  occur- 
red. I  am  not,  however,  without  hopes,  that  if 
you  will  trace  our  progress  with  your  map  before 
you.  my  letter  will  at  least  convey  to  you  a  toler- 
able idea  of  an  important  tract  of  country,  on  thr 
condition  and  future  prospects  of  which  the  phi- 
lanthropist, the  politician,  and  the  Christian,  may 
speculate  with  considerable  interest.  I  bargain 
with  you  before  hand,  to  expect  only  a  list  of 
names  and  dates,  of  breakfastings  an  1  sleepings  : 
so  that  all  that  you  get  in  addition,  whether  in  the 
shape  of  adventure  or  disquisition,  you  are  to 
consider  as  pure  gain. 

After  passing  the  boundary  line  which  1  have 
just  mentioned,  we  were  exhilarated  and  deligiit- 
ed  with  an  extensive  view,  and  a  distant  horizon, 
after  travelling  some  hundred  miles  in  a  deep 
forest,  almost  without  seeing  the  tops  of  the  thick- 
ly interlacing  trees.  In  the  course  of  the  day, 
we  passed,  not  without  regret,  from  the  Chicka- 
saw nation,  into  the  White  settlements,  and  to- 
wards evening  reached  the  Big  Spring,  a  little 
village  of  log  cabins,  on  a  beautiful  clear  stream. 
Here  we  cut  the  military  road  from  New-Orleans 
to  Nashville,  and  ought  to  have  remained  all  night, 
but  were  anxious  to  make  our  forty  miles,  by 
proceeding  six  miles  farther  on  a  new  road,  to  a 
house  where  we  were  told  travellers  were  receiv- 


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*     fS:- 


«*<!.  When  we  arrived  there,  however,  alter  dark, 
^^e  found  ^ve  had  been  misinformed,  as  it  was  the 
residence  of  rather  a  genteel  family,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  a  party  there.  The  gentleman  said 
Bomething  about  house  room ;  but  not  repeating 
it,  or  pressing  us,  I  determined  to  proceed  two 
miles  farther,  where  he  stated  they  did  take  in  tra- 
vellers. After  some  difficulty  we  found  the  house ; 
but  the  owners  said  we  had  been  misinformed : 
indeed  he  had  only  one  room  for  his  family  and 
guests,  male  and  female.  I  begged  him  to  sell  us 
some  corn  for  our  horses,  and  bread  for  ourselves, 
as  we  had  not  eaten  since  breakfast,  and  said  Mte 
would  then  lie  in  the  woods.  He,  however,  gave 
us  nothing  more  substantial  than  civil  words,  but 
assured  us  that  a  little  farther  on  we  should  come 

to  Col. 's,  who  received  travellers  regularly. 

I  told  him  we  began  to  be  a  little  incredulous ; 
but  as  there  was  no  alternative,  with  horses  tired, 
and  at  least  as  much  disappointed  as  ourselves, 
we  proceeded,  not  exquisitely  good  humoured,  to 
the  Colonel's,  who  was  preparing  to  retire  to  bed. 
He  said  he  did  not  receive  travellers,  except 
when,  like  ourselves,  they  were  without  re- 
sources; that  four  had  just  arrived  in  a  similar 
situation,  and  that  he  could  not  give  us  beds,  but 
that  he  would  cheerfully  do  the  best  he  could. 
He  then  ordered  us  an  excellent  supper,  had  his 
carriage  horses  turned  out  to  give  us  stable  room, 
and  would  have  contrived  to  provide  us  a  lodging; 
but  I  could  not  think  of  intruding  on  him,  and  in- 
sisted on  lying  out  as  we  had  done  the  two  pre- 
ceding nights.     His  servant  made  us  a  large  fire 

25 


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^uriiler  a  tree,  and  we  slept  very  soundly.  lii» 
charge  was  moderate :  and  you  will  perhaps  be 
Hurpri»ed  that  he  made  any  charge  nt  all ;  but  in 
these  newly  settled  countries,  it  is  the  custom  for 
almost  every  family  to  receive  travellers,  and  Ut 
make  a  charge,  this  being,  in  many  cases,  the 
only  way  of  disposing  of  the  surplus  of  their  Indian 
corn.  The  few  families,  however,  on  this  road, 
seemed  not  to  like  the  plan,  and  to  be  afraid  of 
making  a  beginning,  lest  they  should  be  overrun, 
and  our  Colonel  shared  in  these  feelings,  though 
too  warm-hearted  to  turn  a  stranger  from  his 
doors  at  night.  In  the  state  of  Mississippi  towards 
Natchez,  strangers  are  received  generally  without 
charge ;  but  this  custom,  of  which  we  have  heard 
so  much,  is  disappearing  fast,  and  is,  in  fact,  con< 
genial  only  with  a  particular  stage  of  society. 
Where  houses  are  thinly  scattered,  and  there  is 
too  little  travelling  to  afford  encouragement  to 
an  inn,  strangers  may  be  taken  in  either  with  or 
without  charges;  and  the  latter  may  frequently 
be  incompatible  with  the  circumstances,  though 
agreeable  to  the  wishes  of  the  owner,  in  this  situ- 
ation, persons  are  obliged  to  keep  houses  of  en- 
tertainment in  self-detence,  however  much  the 
practice  may  infringe  on  their  family  comfort,  and 
a  habit  will  be  acquired  of  expecting  admission 
into  private  houses,  even  when  necessity  can  be 
no  longer  pleaded.  There  is  something  pleasing 
enough  in  the  reflection,  that  every  house  on  the 
road  is  open  to  you  as  your  home ;  but  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  neither  agreeable  nor  desirable 
for  famiiies  to  feel  that  their  retirement  may  be 


lirnkm  in  upon,  at  ..ny  hour,  by  any  noisy  lellows 

who  happen  to  be  passing  by.     Judge ,  who 

lives  near  point  Coupee,  told  us  that  he  has  adopt- 
ed an  excellent  plan  :  he  has  had  an  inn  opened 
near  his  house,  since  the  road  has  been  more 
generally  travelled,  and  he  sends  his  servants 
there  with  all  strangers  who  beat  up  his  quarters, 
with  orders  to  defray  the  expenses  of  those  who 
are  not  evidently  in  a  situation  to  do  it  for  them- 
selves. 

We  breakfasted  the  following  morning  at  the 
house  of  a  very  respectable  couple,  who  had  re- 
moved from  Virginia.  We  were  now  in  lands 
lately  ceded  by  the  Indians,  and  sold,  1  think, 
only  in  February,  ]8l8.  They  have  been  settled 
less  than  two  years ;  yet  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
house,  there  were  no  less  than  five  schools,  and 
four  places  of  worship.  In  the  course  of  the  day 
we  crossed  the  Tennessee  river,  just  above  the 
shoals:  it  was  half  a  mile  broad,  overhung  with 
beautiful  trees,  and  studded  with  wooded  islands. 
Where  it  expanded  toward  the  shoals,  it  re- 
minded me  very  much  of  our  Cumberland  lakes. 
Steam-boats  come  up  from  New-Orleans  to  the 
shoals  We  took  up  our  abode  for  the  night  a 
few  miles  on  the  other  side,  at  a  prosperous  look- 
ing farm,  which,  a  year  and  a  half  since,  was  a 
wilderness.  The  landlord  is  an  intelligent  active 
roan,  from  Virginia,  who  keeps  his  carriage. 
Near  the  house  he  had  one  field,  of  one  hundred 
acres  in  Indian  corn,  and  another  of  one  hundred 
in  cotton ;  he  cut  down  the  first  trees  in  January, 
1819.  and  last  year  had  a  small  crop  of  cotton  and 


I 


ti.i 


: 


190 


Indian  corn.  The  husbandry  of  both  would  ge- 
nerally do  credit  to  our  first-rate  i'armerH;  and 
Indian  corn  is  far  the  most  beautiful  crop  I  ever 
saw.  1  was  surprised  at  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  new  lands  have  been  brought  into  cultivation. 
The  fields  are  generally  from  eighty  to  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  extent,  cleared  of  a  fair 
proportion  of  their  timber,  and  the  remainder 
girdled.  The  land  is  remarkably  good,  sometimes 
producing  one  hundred  bushels  of  Indian  corn 
per  acre,  though  fifty  in  some  states  is  a  large 
crop.  Our  host  told  me,  that  he  has  only  to  cul- 
tivate half  the  land  for  his  family  supply  of  Indian 
corn,  which  he  required  in  Virginia ;  and  it  grows 
so  much  more  rapidly  in  its  early  stages,  that  it 
renders  far  less  labour  necessary.  Money  is  ex- 
tremely scarce  throughout  the  country,  and  hard- 
ly to  be  raised  at  all.  Lands  which  sold  at  the 
public  sales  at  30  cents,  would  not  bring  15  in 
many  instances;  and  many  are  abandoning  the 
idea  of  paying  the  second  instalment,  satisfied  that 
they  shall  save  money,  by  forfeiting  the  one-twen- 
tieth earnest,  and  the  first  instalment  of  one  fourth, 
and  buying  their  own  or  other  forfeited  lands  at 
public  sales.  Great  exertions  are  making  to  in- 
du/ce  Government  to  remit  part  of  the  price. 

Nothing  can  appear  more  delightful  and  inde- 
pendent than  the  situation  of  those  who  are  com- 
fortably settled  on  their  new  lands.  Surround- 
ed by  beautiful  woods,  and  cultivating  the  richest 
soils,  they  raise  almost  every  thing  they  want  with 
little  labour.  Many  make  their  own  cotton  and 
woollen  clothes,  from  cotton  grown,  and  sheep 


s 


197 


reared,  by  themselves,  and  thfur  own  soap,  can- 
dles, and  sugar.  They  also  raise  large  quantities 
of  sheep,  pigs,  and  cattle  in  the  woods,  with  no 
other  trouble  than  putting  a  bell  round  their  neck, 
and  occasionally  visiting  them.  Those  who  want 
to  make  money,  must  have  recourse  to  slavery 
and  cotton  planting. 

On  the  27th,  we  proceeded  on  our  route  at 
hall'  past  four  in  the  morning,  passing  through 
Athens,  a  town  of  twenty  or  thirty  log  cabins,  to 
Cambridge,  a  village  of  four  or  five,  where  we 
breakfasted.  Our  host  was  from  South  Carolina. 
He  said  there  were  several  ministers  and  a  school 
in  the  neighbourhood ;  that  at  a  camp-meeting  of 
some  seceders  from  the  Methodists  a  week  before, 
four  thousand  people  were  collected.  We  pass- 
ed in  the  afternoon  through  Huntsville,  a  small 
town,  full  of  stores,  or  shops.  It  is  finely  situated 
near  the  loot  of  the  spurs  of  the  Cumberland 
mountain.  We  then  proceeded  to  a  comfortable 
inn,  commanding  a  delightful  view.  Here  I  had 
proposed  to  spend  Sunday ;  but  found  our  land- 
lord such  a  sporting  character,  and  was  told  the 
house  was  such  a  Sunday  lounge,  that  I  determin- 
ed to  proceed  to  one  of  a  different  stamp.  While 
resting  our  horses,  we  saw  a  Negro  boy,  of  ten 
years  old,  nearly  killed  in  a  fall  from  one  of  his 
master's,  race-horses  which  he  was  training  with 
another  rode  by  one  of  his  companions.  It  is  very 
common  to  have  private  courses,  and  racers  of  the 
English  breed.  Our  host  of  the  preceding  night 
was  training  three. 

We  set  off  again  by  moonlight,  and  reached 


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198 


our  resting  place  about  midnight  atter  the  famiiv 
were  gone  to  bed.  it  was  a  pleasing  family  to 
spend  Sunday  with :  but  there  was  no  regular  ser- 
vice,  except  on  three  Sundays  out  of  four,  and  this 
was  the  fourth.  1  found  there  was  a  school  in  the 
neighbourhood ;  indeed  this  district  has  been  set- 
tled ten  years. 

We  were  now  in  the  high  road  from  Huntsville 
to  Knoxville,  which  is  really  a  road,  the  Kentucky 
trace  being  little  more  than  a  broad  grass  path. 
We  left  our  hosts  on  the  29th,  and  in  a  few  miles 
crossed  into  Tennessee.  At  night  we  reachf  d  the 
foot  of  the  Cumberland  mountain,  taking  rather  a 
short  cut  to  Knoxville  by  a  horse  path,  which 
passes  by  Brainerd,  one  of  the  missionary  settle- 
ments among  the  Cherokees. 

We  began  to  ascend  the  Cumberland  mountain 
on  the  30th,  about  noon.  After  riding  and  walk- 
ing  for  two  nJles  up  a  steep  rocky  path,  we  reach- 
ed the  summit  and  travelled  on  a  level  road  for 
nearly  sixteen  miles,  when  we  descended  very 
precipitously  into  the  valley  on  the  other  side. 
The  trees  which  overhung  the  road,  afforded  us  a 
tolerable  protection  from  the  rain  which  was  fall- 
ing at  the  time;  but  they  also  contracted  the 
prospect  and  prevented  our  seeing,  except  at  in- 
tervals, the  clouds  which  were  rolling  beautifully 
along  the  distant  hills:  still  our  ride  was  very 
agreeable  by  the  fragrance  of  the  woods,  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  dripping  leaves,  and  the  sounds  of  the 
mountain  torrents  falling  into  the  river  below.  At 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  we  found  a  solitary  log- 
hut,  where  a  vpry  neat  old  woman,  upwards  of 


A 


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199 


of 


seventy  years  old,  was  busily  engaged  in  spinning. 
She  gave  me  a  polite  reception,  and  her  manners 
and  conversation  would  really  have  surprised  you. 
In  her  chimney-corner  was  a  young  clergyman 
from  New- York,  who  had  been  visiting  Brainerd, 
and  whose  offers  to  conduct  family  worship  were 
thankfully  accepted  by  our  hostess  and  her  son. 
This  young  divine  was  making  a  long  tour  through 
the  wilder  parts  of  America  to  harden  himself,  as 
our  hostess  said  before  he  took  the  charge  of  a 
regular  congregation.     It  were  to  be  wished  that 
our  clergy  at  home   had  also  a  little  initiatory 
practice  in  the  duties  of  their  profession  before 
they  jump  at  once  from  the  secular  studies  of  a 
college,  to  the  serious  resposibilities  of  a  cure  of 
souls.     We  set  off  the  next  morning  soon   after 
four  o'clock,  and,  after  crossing  the  Sequotchy 
and  the  Teimessee  rivers,  entered  the  Cherokee 
nation,  in  the  State  of  Georgia.     We  breakfasted 
at  the  house  of  a  very  intelligent  farmer,  whose 
wife  was  a  half-breed  Cherokee,  and  whose  child- 
ren were  well-behaved,  and  better  educated  than 
those  of  some  of  our  most  respectable  farmers. 
On    his    book-shelves  I    observed    Robertson\s 
Ameri'ca,  the  Spectator,  and  several  periodical 
publications;  a  Bible,  hymn-book,  and  other  reli- 
gious works.     In  the  afternoon  we  crossed  the 
Racoon  and  Look-out  mountain ;  and  for  the  first 
time  I  came  to  an  open  quarrel  with  my  favourite 
woods,  which  prevented  me  from  getting  one  tole- 
rable view  of  the  most  magnificent  scenery  we 
have  met  with  since  our  arrival  in  America.     I 
was  delighted,  however,  to  find  myself  once  more 


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in  the  midst  oi  mountains,  and  would  have  ascend- 
ed to  the  summit  of  the  Look-out  mountain  by 
daybreak  the  following  morning,  if  the  weather 
had  not  rendered  it  almost  impraciicable.  We 
slept  at  the  foot  of  it,  at  the  house  of  a  Highlander, 
who  married  a  Cherokee  about  thirty  years  since, 
and  who  lives  very  much  like  a  gentleman.  Here 
we  found  a  good  library,  maps,  and  American  and 
English  newspapers — the  latter  most  acceptable. 
The  daughters  who  drank  tea  and  breakfasted 
with  us,  were  pleasing  well-behaved  girls,  who 
had  been  educated  at  distant  boarding-schools ; 
the  father  from  his  manners  and  information,  might 
have  been  living  the  last  twenty  years  in  England 
or  Scotland,  instead  of  among  the  Cherokees. 
Here  I  met  a  young  invalid  from  Ohio,  going  to 
the  South  for  his  health — no  great  event  you  will 
say ;  but  what  greater  events  can  you  expect  from 
a  traveller  through  a  wild,  than  whom  he  met,  and 
whither  they  were  going  ?  He  had  been  detained 
some  days  by  the  rain :  which  kept  us  till  after 
breakfast,  contrary  to  our  usual  custom.  We  then 
proceeded  through  the  woods  to  Brainerd,  six 
miles  distant ;  where  we  stopped  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day,  the  rain  falling  in  torrents. 
Of  my  interesting  visit  there,  I  have  sent  you  an 
account  in  a  separate  letter.  We  left  Brainerd 
early  on  the  2nd  of  June,  and  at  the  distance  of 
seven  miles  passed  the  boundary  of  the  Cherokee 
nation,  by  crossing  the  Tennessee  river  for  the 
third  time*  It  is  here  six  hundred  yards  broad, 
and  very  beautiful.  We  road  thirty  miles  without 
stopping,  and  then  took  a  cup  of  coffee  at  a  nice 


201 


family^s;  where  I  saw  on  their  book-shelves, 
Young's  Night  Thoughts,  Newton's  and  Wesley's 
Sermons,  SiC.  There  is  no  school  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood ;  but  the  children  are  sent  to  a  board- 
ing-school eight  miles  distant.  One  of  the  daugh- 
ters made  co^e  for  me ;  the  wife  or  daughter 
undertaking  the  office  wherever  we  go.  You 
would  be  surprised  at  the  respectable  manners 
and  appearance  of  those  we  meeC  with  in  this  ca- 
pacity, even  in  the  log-cabins.  We  proceeded 
sixteen  miles  farther,  to  Squire  David's,  to  sleep, 
and  lay  in  the  same  room  where  the  whole  family, 
of  six  or  seven,  cooked,  supped,  and  slept.  If  1 
had  not  been  unwilling  to  hurt  th^ir  feelings,  I 
would  have  made  a  fire  and  slept  under  a  tree ;  a 
plan  we  should  generally  have  adopted,  if  it  had 
not  been  necessary  to  obtain  stable  room  for  our 
horses.  I  often  envy  my  servant,  who  frequently 
sleeps  in  the  hay-loft.  The  following  morning  we 
breakfasted  at  a  comfortable  inn  by  the  road  side, 
where  I  found,  among  other  books,  Homer,  Ovid, 
Virgil,  Cicero,  Dugald  Stewart,  Adam  Smith, 
Ferguson's  Astronomy,  Ree's  Encyclopedia,  &c. 
&c.  They  belonged  to  the  son  of  the  landlord, 
and  detained  us  an  hour  or  two  longer  than  usual. 
It  was  delightful  to  meet  our  old  friend  Dugald 
Stewart  in  such  a  place.  We  rode  the  whole  day 
along  a  beautiful  valley  between  the  Cumberland 
mountain  and  Tennessee  river,  and  at  night  stop- 
ped at  a  retired  house,  where  our  host  and  hostess 
soon  afterwards  arrived  from  meeting ;  it  being  the 
quarterly  meeting  of  Presbyterian  ministers,  who 
preach  for  several  successive  days.     The  follow- 

26 


20vi 


vi 


R  * ' :     f 


iiig  day,  Sunday,  I  went  to  Kingston  (Ibur  miles) 
to  church ;  where  I  found  the  congregation   ad- 
journed  into  the  woods,  the  numbers  being  too 
great  to  be  otherwise  accommodated.     It  was  a 
sacramental  occasion,  and  long  tables  were  spread 
under  the  trees ;    the  people  flocking  for  miles  in 
every  direction,  as  in  Scotland.     This  spectacle, 
so  impressive  in  an  American  forest,  was  render- 
ed   still  more  interesting    by   the    surrounding 
scenery,  which  was  beautiful.     Immediately  be- 
low the  wood  there  was  a  wide  expanse  of  water, 
the  confluence  of  the  Holstein  and   the  Clinch 
rivers,  where  they  unite  to  form  the  Tennessee ; 
and  at  a  distance  was  a  chain  of  mountains,  strong- 
ly resembling  the  chain  which  comprises  Conis- 
ton  Fells  and  Langdale  Pikes;*  while  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  sometimes  gently  undulating,  and 
sometimes  broken  into  narrow,  lofty,  and  precipi- 
tous ridges,  was  almost  every  where  covered  with 
stately  trees,  of  a  gigantic  stature.    We  set  oflT 
early  the  next  morning,  and  reached  Knoxville  at 
night,  delighted,  yet  almost  exhausted,  with  the 
constant  succession  of  magnificent  mountain  views. 
At  Knoxville  I  staid  at  Ray^s  tavern,  which,  being 
built  of  bricks,  and  divided  into  convenient  rooms, 
appeared  like  a  palace,  after  our  late  accommo- 
dation.   On  my  arrival  I  found  several  gentlemen 
sitting  in  the  portico  before  the  house,  among 
whom  was  the  resident  agent  of  the  United  States 
among  the  Choctaws,  who  had  been  at  Washing- 
ton, and  was  bringing  a  handsome  present  from 
the  Government  to  the  missionary  settlements  at 


I 


X. 


--*«... 


20  :< 

Yaloo  Biisha.  Thr  follow  rviiiorning  I  rose  ear- 
ly, and  walked  about  the  town,  beautifully  situat- 
ed on  the  Holstein.  At  fire  o'clock  most  of  the 
shops  were  open,  the  newspapers  were  in  the 
course  of  delivery,  and  every  thing  bore  the  ap- 
pearance of  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in  a  more  north- 
ern town.  We  rode  for  about  seventeen  miles, 
when  we  were  compelled  to  halt  by  the  heat  of 
the  day.  In  the  evening,  the  fragrance  of  the 
woods  and  the  melody  of  the  birds  were  delight- 
ful ;  and  the  cool  clear  streams  seemed  to  refresh 
our  horses  greatly  after  their  toilsome  journey, 
our  detention  in  the  morning  having  tnrown  us 
more  into  the  heat  of  the  day  than  usual.  We 
now  began  to  be  more  sensible  than  ever  how 
much  we  had  been  indebted  to  the  thick  woods, 
which,  till  within  a  few  days,  had  almost  entirely 
protected  us  from  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
^.  At  eight  o'clock  we  stopped  at  Myer's,  a  Ger- 
man, who  treated  us  very  civilly.  Opposite  the 
house  they  were  making  hay,  the  first  we  had 
seen  cut ;  the  smell  of  which  transported  me  for  a 

time  to .     Indeed,  for  several  days  I  had 

been  perpetually  reminded  of  home  by  the  gener- 
al aspect  of  the  surrounding  scenery ;  the  rich 
crops  of  wheat  and  barley,  which  in  this  section 
of  the  country  had  almost  displaced  the  Indian 
corn ;  the  "  hum  of  children  just  let  loose  from 
school,''  who  often  accosted  us  with  their  little 
bows ;  and  a  style  of  manners  resembling  that  of 
the  country  people  in  the  neighbourhood  of  our 
lakes,  in  all  its  most  valuable  characteristics. 
Some  of  the  customs,  indeed,  were  different,  as  I 


.'^ 


I 


■"Tx    :f' 


■A.  .^. . 


■-UfeT!*.. 


204 


^t    f 


't- 


was still  occasionally  placed  at  the  family  supper- 
table  with  labourers  in  their  shirt-sleeves ;  but 
that  family,  and  those  labourers,  appeared  as  cor- 
dial, obliging,  and  accommodating,  as  those  with 
whom  I  have  ventured  to  compare  them ;  in  their 
own  way,  as  respectful,  and  much  more  intelli- 
g<3nt :  in  short,  any  thing,  rather  than  what  peo- 
ple generally  mean  when  they  say  Americans. 

I  am,  &c.  , 


'l>< 


i 


,  (  .     > 


LETTER  XVII. 

Richmond,  Virginia,  June  20,  1820. 


I  CONCLUDED  my  letter  this  morning,  because  I 
did  not  wish  to  inflict  more  than  two  sheets  upon 
you  at  once ;  but  it  did  not  bring  me  so  far  on  my 
route  as  1  intended.  I  however  pass  over  a  few 
days  of  my  narrative,  as  they  aflR>rded  no  very 
peculiar  occurrences.  In  speaking  of  East  Ten- 
nessee, a  delightful  country,  of  which  I  have  the 
most  agreeable  impressions,  I  forgot  to  say  that  the 
inhabitants  are  anticipating  considerable  advan- 
tage from  improvements  in  the  land  communica- 
tion between  the  Tennessee  and  the  Black  War- 
rior. They  have  also  some  prospect  of  the  com- 
pletion of  two  canals,  which  have  long  been  pro- 
jected, and  appear  in  the  maps  of  the  United 
States,  and  which  would  connect  the  waters  of 
the  Tennessee  with  those  of  the  Tombigbee  and 
the  Alabama,  and  afford  a  passage  for  the  produce 
of  East  Tennessee  to  Mobile  and   the  Gulf  of 


jmtlf^ 


I 


..^jitoi*"         i'ii<*M:ij  ■-*-"'^- — — — 


20i> 


Mexico.  This  would  supply  a  great  stimulus  to 
industry;  as  Mobile  at  present  obtains  a  large 
proportion  of  her  flour  from  New-Orleans,  by  way 
of  Lake  Borgne  and  Port  Chartrain, — a  channel 
of  communication  rendered  so  expensive  by  a 
heavy  tonnage  duty,  that  flour  was  selling  at  Mo- 
bile when  I  was  there  extravagantly  higher  than 
at  New-Orleans.  ;  f  It.':.-        ;i 

We  had  for  some  days  been  almost  insensibly 
ascending  the  Alleghany  mountains ;  but  to  the 
12th  we  saw  nothing  which  indicated  any  extra- 
ordinary elevation.  On  that  afternoon,  however, 
we  had  a  very  extensive,  though  not  a  particular- 
ly interesting,  view ;  and  the  air  was  so  cool,  that 
I  was  glad  to  ride  in  my  great  coat.  Our  moun- 
tain ride  gave  us  an  appetite  before  the  end  of 
our  day^s  journey ;  and  we  stopped  to  take  coflee 
at  a  small  house  on  the  ridge,  where  we  were  de- 
tained till  it  was  nearly  dark, — the  universal  cus- 
tom of  making  and  baking  fresh  bread  for  you  be- 
ing a  sad  detention  to  travellers,  who  ought  ne- 
ver to  order  breakfast  or  tea  unless  they  can  af- 
ford to  stay  two  hours.  About  nine  o^clock  we  ar- 
rived at  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  little  valleys  very 
common  among  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and 
took  up  our  abode  for  the  ni^ht  at  the  ferry-house 
on  the  Kanawa,  a  large  river,  which  falls  into  the 
Ohio.  We  crossed  it  in  a  ferry-boat  at  half-past 
four  o'clock  the  next  morning  (the  13th,)  and 

breakfasted  at  Major 's,  a  fine  friendly  old 

gentleman  who  I  found  sitting  in  his  neat  white 
porch,  and  whose  respectable  appearance  ren- 
dered me  almost  ashamed  to  ask  if  he  entertain- 


I'' 


M 


*. 


# 


-  '.-jf'.,  -S: 


I'  ^ 


■«-•  »-■ 


206 


i 


i' 


«fe-. 


ed  ii  avcllers ;  although  I  am  now  pretty  irell  ac- 
customed to  consider  neither  the  imposing  aspect 
of  a  house,  nor  the  sounding  title  of  its  inhabi- 
tants, whether  Dr. ,  Colonel ,  Judge 

— ' — ,  or  Parson ,  as  any  indication  that 

they  do  not  "  keep  private  entertainment.^*  The  old 
gentleman  was  much  interested  in  hearing  about 
England,  the  native  land  of  his  grandfather.  His 
wife,  who  made  breakfast  for  me,  was  a  sensible 
well-read  gentlewoman,  who  might  fairly  pass  in 
any  society,  incredible  as  this  may  seem  in  the 
wilds  of  America  within  twelve  miles  from  the 
summit  of  the  Alleghany.  One  of  the  daughters, 
a  nice  modest  girl,  sat  by  Dr.  Kingsbury,  my  mis- 
sionary friend,  who  had  called  here  on  his  way  to 
Brainerd,  and  left  the  **  Life  of  Harriet  Newell,^ 
which  had  greatly  interested  all  the  family.  Soon 
after  breakfast  we  reached  the  top  of  the  Allegha- 
ny, where  to  our  surprise  we  found  a  turnpike- 
gate,  the  first  we  had  seen  for  many  months.  The 
view  was  extensive,  though  disappointing  as  a 
whole :  the  loss  of  one  magnificent  prospect,  how- 
ever, was  far  more  than  compensated  by  the  suc- 
cession of  beautiful  and  interesting  valleys, 
through  which  we  continued  to  pass  for  several 
days,  surrounded  by  ranges  of  lofty  mountains  at 
different  distances.  Soon  after  we  began  to  de- 
scend, we  stopped  for  some  cold  water  at  an  at- 
tractive inn,  where  we  found  the  people  assidu- 
ously and  cordially  civil,  like  our  honest  and  best 
kind  of  inn-keepers  at  home.  They  offered  to 
fetch  us  some  seed-water  if  we  would  wait  a  few 
minutes.    The  long  steep  descent  from  the  top  of 


% 


T' 


w 


207 


tlie  Alleghany  rendered  us  very  sensible  of  tlie 
truth  of  an  observation  I  had  frequently  heard 
here,  that  the  land  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
range  is  lower  than  that  on  the  jwestern.     In  the 
course  of  the  day,  we  several  times  crossed  the 
winding  Roanoke,  which  we  viewed  with  a  sort  of 
affection,  as  a  distant  link  connecting  uB  in  some 
degree  with  our  native  home,  it  being  tiie  first  ri- 
ver discharging  its  waters  into  the  Atlantic  which 
we  had  seen  since  we  left  the  Oakmulgee  on  our 
Alabama  route  in    March.    In  the   evening  we 
passed  through  Salem  to  the  house  of  a  well-mean- 
ing awkward  German,  (the  German  houses  are 
always  recognised  by  their  flower-gai  dens,)  in- 
tending to  sleep  there ;  but  my  intentions  were 
frustrated  by  little  assailants,  who  had  no  mercy 
on  a  tired  traveller,  but  drove  me  at  midnight  in- 
to the  porch,  where  I  dozed  a  little  before  day- 
break.    I  was  glad  to  feel  myself  on  horseback 
again  before  sun-rise  (14th,)  though  more  tired 
than  on  my  arrival    the    preceding    night.     At 
Lock^s,    where   we  staid   and    breakfasted,  tea 
miles  distant,  I  went  to  bed  for  an  hour,  as  the 
country  was  far  too  beautiful  to  be  wasted  on  a 
sleepy  traveller.     We  were  now  fairly  in  the  val- 
ley between  the  North  mountain  and  the  Blue 
ridge ;  the  whole  of  which  is  often  indiscriminate- 
ly called  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoih,  although 
the  inhabitants  confine  the  name  to  that  part  of  it 
which  is  watered  by  the  river,  and  which  coui- 
mences  a  little  above  Staunton.     With  the  rich- 
ness of  this  luxuriant  valley  I  kno^v  you  are  al- 
ready acquainted ;    and  of  the  sublimity  of  its 


V 


M 


tr 


\i 


n 


f 


# 


>■ 


f-** 


I 


'?        ^* 


kl    :  ; 


i 


I 


20U 

mountain  scenery,  it  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt 
a  description.  Our  host  and  his  habitation  were 
truly  English ;  and  it  required  no  great  stretch  of 
imagination  to  fancy  myself  near  Windermere. 
We  left  Fincastle  a  little  to  our  right,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Judge *s,  to  whom  I  had  a  letter 

of  introduction  from  the  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Mississippi.  I  found  him  without  his  coat  in  the 
middle  of  his  corn-fields,  gladdening  his  heart  and 
relaxing  his  brows  by  contemplating  the  benefi- 
cence of  nature,  whose  favours,  or  rather  those  of 
her  Almigfity  Creator,  appeared  to  be  liberally 
scattered  over  his  farm.  As  soon  as  I  delivered 
my  letter,  he  led  me  up  to  a  large  substantial 
brick-house,  where  he  insisted  on  ordering  din- 
ner; for  the  family  had  dined.  I  found  him  a 
well-read  reflecting  old  gentleman.  He  was  en- 
gaged in  stidying  the  history  of  England  at  the 
period  of  the  Revolution,  and  seemed  to  think  we 
were  now  approaching  an  era  at  least  as  eventful. 
Thus  you  see  the  operations  of  our  Radicals  have 
penetrated  «ven  the  tranquil  valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah, and  awakened  its  more  intelligent  inhabi- 
tants to  phibsophical  reflection  on  the  destinies 
of  our  native  land.  The  Judge  was  a  little  dis- 
pleased that  I  would  not  stay  all  night ;  which  I 
wished  much  to  do,  but  found,  on  looking  forward, 
that,  in  connexion  with  calling  at  Mr.  Jeflerson^s 
at  a  proper  hour,  it  would  cost  me  an  entire 
day. 

I  left  his  house  about  five  oVlock,  and  rode  for 
some  distaice,  surrounded  by  the  most  magnifi- 
onnt  scentrv  I  had  seen  in  America ;  the  Blue 


209 


empt 
were 
ich  of 
mere, 
i  pro- 
letter 
tale  of 
in  the 
irt  and 
benefi- 
tiose  of 
berally 
Uvered 
stantial 
ing  din- 
1  him  a 
was  en- 
d  at  the 
hink  we 
eventful, 
jals  have 
Shenan- 

inhabi- 
destinies 
ittle  dis- 
;  which  I 

forward, 
efferson's 
an  entire 


I  rode  for 
magnifi- 
the  Blue 


t 


/ 


ridgo  with  tlio  p*  nks  ol  Otter  being  very  near. 
Towards  night  I  cr»»sed  James's  river,  an<l  soon 

after  reached  Captain 's,  an  innkeeper  still 

of  the  English  school.     He  has  1 500  acres  of  land 
in  this  rich  valley,  (JOO  of  which  are  this  year  un- 
der wheat,  rye,  and  Indian  corn,)  with  200  sheep 
and  .^i)  head  of  cattle.   Yet  he  took  off*  our  saddle- 
bags, his  Black  servant  standing  by,  and  carried 
them  up  stairs,  and  shewed  all  the  civility  you 
would  wish  to  receive  from  a  common  landlord  of 
an  inn.     We  set  off"  early  in  the  morning  (15th)  to 
see  the  celebrated  natural  bridge,  which  was  only 
two  miles  out  of  our  way,  and  which  Mr.  JetFersou 
considers  the  greatest  natural  curiosity  in  Ameri- 
ca.    It  is  certaiidy  a  wonderful  scene,  and   one 
which  it  is  impossible  fjilly  to  embrace  without  see- 
ing it  several  times.     Having  snrveye<l  it  in  its  dif- 
ferent aspects,  I  left  it  with   reluctance;  and  we 
proceeded  sixteen  miles  to  breakfast,  having  pre- 
viously fortitied  ourselves  with  a  single  cup  of  cof- 
fee, which  we  begged  from  a  Negro  at  a  little  cot- 
tage where  his  party  were  breakfasting  near  the 
bridge.     In  this  part  of  the  country  the  houses  are 
generally  of  brick,  substantial  and  convenient;  but 
not  in  good  taste,  or  in  harmony  with  the  rural 
beauty  of  the  surrounding  scenery.     Occasionally 
we  heard  a  clock,  which  at  first  startled  me,  as  I 
had  not  seen  onesince  we  left  Georgia,  and  scarce- 
ly one  since  we  set  out  from  Washington ;  every 
thing  beirig  regulated  by  the  sun.     If  you  ask  what 
time  it  is,  it  either  wants  so  many  hours  of  noon, 
or  it  is  so  much  before,  or  so  much  after  sun-down. 
Meals  are   regulated  by  the  sun  even  in  families 

27 


t 


I, 


I! 


PI 


)i 


I' 


V 


it- 


a  i) 


♦ 


IV 


210 


where  there  is  a  watch,  or  a  time-piece  as  it  is 
called ;  and  I  have  very  often  heard  evening  Her- 
vice  announced  at  church  to  begin  at  early  candle 
light.  This  want  of  precision  would  run  away 
with  all  the  spare  hours  in  our  country.  Another 
thing  which  struck  me  in  the  valley  was  the  large 
proportion  of  cleared  land,  and  the  absence  of  the 
stumps  of  trees,  which  are  every  where  conspicu- 
ous amidst  the  crops  in  the  countries  settled  with- 
in the  last  twenty  years.  On  reaching  East  Ten- 
nessee, the  sight  of  two  fields  in  depth  appeared 
so  strange  as  to  remind  me  strongly  of  England  ; 
cultivation  seldom  extending  in  a  great  part  even 
of  the  cleared  country  above  one  field  deep  into 
the  woods.  A  pair  of  stocks,  which  1  saw  on  a 
village  green  in  the  valley,  at  last  furnished  a  deci- 
sive proof  that  we  were  again  within  the  pale  of 
civilization. 

I  was  most  interested,  however,  in  observing  a 
great  alteration  in  the  relative  numbers  of  the 
White  and  Black  population,  and  a  corresponding 
increase  of  free  labour  engaged  in  agriculture. 
This  is  probably  owing  to  the  poverty  of  the  early 
settlers,  which  has  secured  to  their  posterity  a 
greater  blessing  than  the  richest  inheritance  of 
blood  and  muscles.  Not  that  these  lovely  scenes 
are  unpolluted  by  slavery ;  there  is  scarcely  a  fa- 
mily without  slaves,  and  almost  every  tavern  is 
branded  with  the  most  disgusting  advertisements 
for  runaways;  but  the  heart  is  less  frequently  sick- 
ened at  the  sight  of  large  gangs  (excuse  this  hide- 
ous but  technical  term,)  broiling  under  a  vertical 
sun,  and  goaded  to  preternatural  labour  by  the 


■^-i^; 


^. 


-ill 


brutal  lash.     Here  their  maMtcrn, 

illy  work  among 


other  White 


la  hoi 


th 


and 


laiioiirers,  occaBionally  work  among  tliem 
the  several  productioiiB  of  this  part  of  the  country 
are  lesB  powerful  stimulants  to  the  avarice  of  their 
owners,  than  the  sugar,  rice,  or  cotton  of  more 
southern  states. 

I  shall  be  truly  glad  when  I  can  pass  a  day  with- 
out seeing  one  fellow-creature  in  bondage.  At 
present  I  do  not  recollect  four  places  of  all  (hose 
at  which  I  have  stopped  cither  to  cat  or  sleep, 
since  1  left  Washington  in  January,  where  there 
were  no  domestic  slaves;  and  in  two  of  these  in- 
stances abject  poverty  was  pleaded  as  an  apology  ! 
At  most  even  of  the  better  houses  of  entertain- 
ment where  you  stay,  you  see  black  slovenly  look- 
ing hovels  round  the  yard,  where  the  domestic 
Negroes  live,  and  the  young  Black  fry  are  crawl- 
ing about  the  door,  and,  if  the  family  are  indul- 
gent, about  the  house.  The  Black  children  are 
frequently  quite  naked,  as  sleek  and  glossy  as  may 
be  ;  and  I  have  often  thought  how  you  would 
laugh  at  their  little  rotund  alderman-like  figures. 
When  very  young,  they  seem  to  mix  almost  indis- 
criminately with  the  White  children,  who  however 
occasionally  demonstrate  their  assumed  superiori- 
ty, though  less  frequently  and  less  peevishly  than 
J  should  have  expected,  at  least  as  far  as  fell  un- 
der my  observation.  The  very  youngest  of  them 
appear  to  me  to  view  a  White  gentleman  witii 
some  distrust,  and  to  be  daunted  with  any  thing  like 
attention.  With  the  aid  of  ray  watch,  however,  I 
have  generally  succeeded  in  setting  them  a  little 
at  ease,  and  have  often  found  them  very  arch  little 


'  11 


fi 


% 


y  t 


•«?'■ 


./.A 


M. 


im*^'  --** 


i  /I 


^^  % 


b    \ 


212 

%ures.  Notwithstanding  the  painful  feelings  their 
situation  must  excite,  there  is  something  so  very 
grotesque  in  the  contour  of  these  little  Black  cu- 
pids,  that  I  cannot,  to  this  moment,  avoid  smiling 
M'hen  I  see  them.  When  treated  with  kindness 
and  confidence,  as  they  often  are,  the  older  ones 
seem  to  make  excellent  and  intelligent  servants; 
and  my  first  impressions  of  their  well  ordered  man- 
ners and  good  language  have  heen  fully  confirm- 
ed. Their  desire  to  speak  well,  or  rather  their 
passion  for  it,  and  their  love  of  long  words,  often 
lead  them  into  humorous  mistakes.  A  few  morn- 
ings since,  when  I  asked  the  ostler  what  time  he 
generally  opened  the  stables,  he  said  he  always 
slept  there,  "  in  order  to  congratulate  gentlemen 
on  urgent  business."  In  the  better  kind  of  houses 
of  entertainment,  there  are  usually  several  juvenile 
slaves  of  different  ages  waiting  on  you  at  table, 
the  little  ones  under  the  orders  of  the  oldest.  At 
this  season  of  the  year,  one  or  two  are  employed 
in  driving  away  the  flies.  At  Mr. 's  at  Nat- 
chez, I  found  they  had  adopted  the  Indian  mode 
of  keeping  you  cool  and  driving  the  flies  away, 
having  a  large  fan  suspended  from  the  top  of  the 
room,  wafted  by  a  little  Negro  in  the  adjoining  hall, 
who  pulled  a  string.  We  were  several  times  amus- 
ed to  see  him  continue  his  see-saw  operation  when 
apparently  fast  asleep ;  only  starting  a  little  occa- 
sionally when  he  made  too  deep  a  vibration. 

On  the  16th,  about  an  hour  before  sun-set  I 
reached  Waynesborough,  a  peaceful  village  at  the 
foot  of  the  Blue  ridge,  very  like  one  of  the  little 
villages  in  the  north  of  England.     Here  I  began 


^i^ 


\  ,) 


-sot  I 

lat  the 

little 

)egan 


2i:i 


to  ascend  at  Rock  Fish  Gap.  After  a  steep  as. 
cent  of  two  miles  and  a  hall^  we  reached  the  sum- 
mit, and  had  a  fine  view  of  the  valley  between  the 
Blue  ridge  and  the  North  mountain.  A  hundred 
paces  brought  us  into  another  world,  as  we  began 
to  descend  into  the  deeper  valley  on  the  eastern 
side ;  and  for  some  time  i  enjoyed  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  views  which  can  well  be  conceived. 
I  think  1  never  shall  forget  the  half  hour  i  spent  in 
contemplating  this  scene  ;  first,  gilded  by  the  rays 
of  a  glowing  sun  "going  down  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  valley  while  it  was  yet  day,"  and  then  losing 
every  feature  of  sublimity  and  beauty  in  the  indis- 
tinctness and  obscurity  of  night.  I  thought  of  you 
all ;  of  our  summer  evenings,  and  our  mountain 
views ;  and  rode  to  a  quiet  inn  at  the  foot  of  the 
Blue  ridge,  the  retirement  of  which  allowed  me  to 
indulge  my  home  recollections  till  I  went  to  bed. 
The  next  morning  at  four  o^clock,  1  proceeded 
to  Grock's,  an  excellent  iim,  to  breakfast,  where  I 
saw  some  journals  containing  recent  British  news ; 
and  among  other  articles  of  intelligence,  the  sen- 
tence pronounced  on  Thistlewood  and  his  associ- 
ates. We  shortly  afterwards  passed  through 
Charlottesville,  where  General  Tarleton  was  near- 
ly capturing  Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  Legislature  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  being  prevented  only  by 
a  private  intimation  from  a  female  relation  of  one 
of  the  officers  a  few  miles  distant,  at  whose  house 
the  General  and  his  suite  had  invited  then  selves 
to  breakfast.  Here  we  saw  an  extensive  univer- 
sity, which  the  State  is  erecting  under  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's auspices,  and  to  which  it  is  intended  to  invite 


i 


I  t   •jI 


u 


I'f 

\   ) 

I 


'I  ;   % 


}tr 


.N 


fi 


214 


the  ablest  prof essors  which  Europe  can  sv^ly.  \V  e  ar- 
rived at  Monticello,  three  miles  farther,  at  eleven 
o^clock,  ascending  the  southwest  mountain,  on 
which  the  house  is  situated,  by  a  windingcarriage- 
road  through  the  woods.  I  sent  in  my  letter  to 
Mr.  Jefferson,  who  came  out,  and  gave  me  a  very 
polite  reception ;  but  of  my  interesting  visit  to  this 
philosophic  legislator,  I  must  give  you  the  particu* 
lars  when  we  meet.  Crossing  the  Rivannah  at  the 
bottom  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  grounds,  the  water  up  to 
our  saddle  skirts,  we  proceeded  to  Mrs.  Boyd's 
tavern,  about  eight  miles  distant.  On  the  19th 
(the  18th  being  Sunday,)  we  resumed  our  journey ; 
and  on  the  20th  reached  Richmond.  We  break- 
fasted that  morning  at  a  very  comfortable  inn,  with 
a  rich  tobacco  planter  and  his  wife,  who  were  go- 
ing to  Richmond.  The  lady's  Black  maid  rode 
on  horseback  behind  ;  and  I  suppose  nothing  would 
have  i»iduced  them  to  admit  herinto  the  carriage. 
The  Black  servants  who  drive  their  masters  or 
mistresses  in  gigs  generally  sit  on  the  steps,  which 
has  a  most  unpleasant  and  unsafe  appearance.  I 
was  particularly  struck  with  this  at  Charleston  and 
Savannah. 

Excuse  a  long  rambl*ng  letter,  written  under  a 
degree  of  heat  more  oppressive  than  I  ever  yet 
experienced.     Yours,  &c. 


\ 


215 


'r» 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Observer. 

I  NOW  send  you  my  concluding  packet  of  letters 
written  during  my  late  journey  through  North 
America.  It  consists  of  three  letters,  comprising 
my  route  from  Portland  in  New-Hampshire,  to 
New- York.  Had  I  originally  had  any  intention 
of  sending  my  epistolary  communications  to  your 
repository,  I  might  probably  have  been  inclined 
to  introduce  into  them  a  larger  proportion  of  spe- 
cific religious  remark  and  allusion  ;  but  I  must 
now  leave  my  readers  to  fill  up  this  chasm  for 
themselves.  If  1  have  not  always  detailed  my 
more  serious  moralizings,  I  have  endeavoured  so 
far  to  act  the  part  both  of  a  Christian  observer, 
and  a  Christian  reporter,  as  to  furnish  a  variety  of 
facts  and  incidents  replete  with  high  moral  and 
Christian  interest,  and  which  a  well  informed  and 
religious  mind  may  follow  up  with  many  salutary 
reflections.  One  very  prominent  object  which  I 
have  had  in  contemplation  has  been  to  exhibit  to 
the  readers  of  your  miscellany,  somewhat  of  the 
bitter  evils  of  slavery ;  a  subject  respecting  which, 
I  fear  even  the  religious  part  of  the  British  public 
are  not  yet  sufficiently  informed  or  impressed. 
Earnestly  and  confidently  would  i  hope  that  the 
efforts  now  in  progress  to  awaken  a  general  inter- 
est to  this  most  important  question,  with  a  view 
to  the  adoption  of  a  practical  remedy,  will  not  be 
long  without  complete  success.  Some  of  the  facts 
which  have  been  detailed  in  my  letters  written 
while  passing  through  the  slave-states  of  America. 


I! 


\;  tl 


it 


'I  \m  — 


^~^-- 


I 

lit-. 


\ 


:>if 


'h\ 


,   \ 


^1     'i 


210 


must  have  appeared  a  little  startling  to  such 
readers  as  have  been  seduced  into  a  belief  that 
the  horrors  of  slavery  are  extinguished  ;  that, 
under  the  mild  and  mitigated  systems  which  are 
said  to  have  been  generally  adopted,  the  Negro 
slave  has  been  elevated  to  a  level  with  the  Euro- 
pean peasant,  in  all  that  respects  his  physical  en- 
joyment, his  social  comfort,  and  his  opportunities 
of  intellectual  and  religious  improvement ;  that 
nothing  is  lell  of  slavery  but  the  name ;  and  that 
the  waters  of  bitterness  which  the  slaves  are  sup- 
posed by  visionary  philanthropists  to  drink,  are 
rendered  palatable  at  least,  if  not  sweet  and  deli- 
cious, by  the  cordials  poured  into  their  cup  by  the 
overflowing  kindness  of  their  free  and  sympathizing 
brethren.  Since  sending  you  the  above  letters,  I 
have  received  a  fresh  illustration  of  the  erroneous 
nature  of  such  ideas,  and  of  the  light  in  which  slaves 
are  regarded  even  in  Maryland — a  state  whose 
northern  limits  form  the  line  of  demarkation  be- 
tween the  free  and  slave-holding  states  of  America; 
within  the  influence,  one  woiiid  suppose,  of  those 
fresh  and  genial  gales  of  freedom  which  the  agita- 
tion of  the  pure  atmosphere  of  Pennsylvania  would 
occasionally  waft  over  the  boundary  line  (a  line 
discernable  only  by  a  most  striking  contrast  be- 
tween a  free  and  slave  population,)  and  within 
sight  of  the  capital  of  Washington,  the  temple  of 
freedom,  to  which  she  sends  her  delegates  to  repre- 
sent her,  and  whose  walls  I  have  so  often  heard 
resound  with  the  declaration  of  the  first  principle 
of  their  goveriunent ;  Jill  men  are  by  nature  free^  equals 
und  independent.     The  illustration  to  which  I  refer 


J 


•r 


217 


occurs  in  a  letter  which  I  sometime  since  received 
from  a  friend  at  Baltimore.  The  suhject  of  slavery 
is  introduced  quite  incidentally  by  my  benevolent 
correspondent,  w  ho  is  giving  me  an  account  of  the 
proceedings  of"  The  Young  Men's  Bible  Society." 
I  send  you  the  extract  with  the  more  pleasure, 
because,  while  it  illustrates  the  general  feeling 
with  respect  to  the  Slaves,  it  indicates  also  the 
progress  of  benevolence,  and  afibrds  evidence  of 
those  philanthropic  efibrts  by  which  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Baltimore  are  eminently  distinguish- 
ed.    My  friend  observes  : 

"1  an?  very  certain  it  will  give  you  much  plea- 
sure to  learn  that  the  coloured  part  of  our  popula- 
tion are  beginning  to  benetit  by  the  very  great  and 
general  exertions  that  are  now  making  in  this 
country  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  wretch- 
ed. 1  can  speak  more  particularly  of  the  state  of 
Maryland.  As  an  instance,  application  was  made 
at  our  board  of  directors  of  the  Young  Men's  Bible 
Society,  for  a  donation  of  Testaments  for  a  Sun- 
day-jchooi  in  a  distant  country,  under  the  follow- 
ing circumstances.  A  gentleman  who  had  a  num- 
ber of  slaves,  determined  to  teach  them  to  read 
the  Scriptures,  and  for  ihat  purpose  formed  them 
into  a  Sunday-school,  the  superintendence  of 
which  he  took  on  himself  So  strong  were  the 
prejudices  of  his  neighbours  against  him,  that  for 
some  time  he  was  compelled  to  go  armed  to  his 
school  for  his  own  protection  ;  but  persevering  in 
his  good  work,  of  teaching  his  ignorant  servants, 
and  such  others  as  cou^  be  received  by  him,  he 
at  length  overcame  all  opposition:  and  his  neigh- 


I 


M 


^1 

t] 


^\ 


218 


i 

1 


'(-.i 


'*i 


* 


f 


r 


M^ 


bours,  from  being  inveterate  opposers,  became 
his  most  zealous  supporters.  His  school  increased 
to  1 50  learners,  and  more  schools  were  organiz- 
ing in  the  same  and  adjoining  counties.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  say,  that  a  very  generous  donation 
was  made  by  our  Bible  Society." 

While  a  master  cannot  teach  his  slaves  without 
being  armed  against  the  attacks  of  his  free  White 
brethren,  can  we  wonder  at  the  suspicions  of  the 
acute  aborigines,  conveyed  in  the  following  inter- 
esting little  narrative,  recorded  by  Dr.  Boudinot  ? 

"  The  writer  of  these  sheets,"  remarks  Dr.  Bou- 
dinot, "  was  many  years  ago,  one  of  the  corres- 
ponding members  of  a  Society  in  Scotland  for  pro- 
moting the  Gospel  among  the  Indians.  To  fur- 
ther this  great  work,  they  educated  two  young 
men  of  very  serious  and  religious  dispositions, 
who  were  desirous  of  undertaking  the  mission  for 
this  purpose.  When  they  were  ordained  and 
ready  to  depart,  we  wrote  a  letter  in  the  Indian 
style  to  the  Delaware  Nation,  then  residing  on 
the  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  informing  them,  that 
we  had,  by  the  goodness  of  the  Great  Spirit,  been 
favoured  by  a  knowledge  of  his  will  as  to  the 
worship  he  required  of  his  creatures,  and  the 
means  he  would  bless  to  promote  the  happiness  of 
men  both  in  this  life,  and  that  wliich  is  to  come ; 
that  thus  enjoying  so  much  happiness  ourselves, 
we  could  not  but  think  of  our  Red  brethren  in  the 
wilderness,  and  wish  to  communicate  the  glad 
tidings  to  them,  that  they  might  be  partakers  with 
us.  We  had  therefore  seUt  them  two  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  who  would  teach  them  these  ^rtai 


% 


..  .»'. 


f- 


tai 


219 


things,  and  earnestly  recommended  them  to  their 
careful  attention. 

**  With  proper  passports,  the  missionaries  set 
off,  and  arrived  in  safety  at  one  of  their  principal 
towns.  On  their  arrival,  the  chiefs  of  the  natives 
were  called  together,  who  answered  them,  that 
they  would  take  the  subject  into  consideration; 
but  in  the  mean  time  they  might  instruct  the  wo- 
men, but  must  not  speak  to  the  men.  They  spent 
fourteen  days  in  council,  and  then  dismissed  them 
very  courteously,  with  an  answer  to  us.  This  an- 
swer made  great  acknowledgments  for  the  fa- 
vour we  had  done  them.  They  rejoiced  exceed- 
ingly at  our  happiness  in  being  thus  favoured  by 
the  Great  Spirit,  and  felt  very  grateful  that  we 
had  condescended  to  remember  our  Red  brethren 
in  the  wilderness.  But  they  could  not  help  re- 
collecting that  we  had  a  people  among  us,  who, 
because  they  differed  from  us  in  colour,  we  had 
made  slaves  of,  and  made  them  suffer  great  hard- 
ships, and  lead  miserable  lives.  Now  they  could 
not  see  any  reason,  if  a  people's  being  Black  en- 
titled us  thus  to  deal  with  them,  why  a  Red  colour 
should  not  equally  justify  the  same  treatment. 
They  therefore  had  determined  to  wait  to  see 
whether  all  the  Black  people  amongst  us  were 
made  thus  happy  and  joyful,  before  they  put  con- 
fidence in  our  promise;  for  they  thought  a  people 
who  had  suffered  so  much  and  so  long,  by  our 
means,  should  be  entitled  to  our  first  attention ; 
that  therefore  they  had  sent  back  the  two  mission- 
aries, with  many  thanks, — promising,  that  when 
they  saw  (he  Black  people  amongst  ns  restored 


'  iii' 


'  «i 


i- 


•<* 


220 


to  freedom  and  happiness,  they  would  gladly  re- 
ceive our  missionaries  " 

Such  was  the  moral  lesson  which  these  wild 
sons  of  the  forest,  these  uncultivated  heathens, 
read  to  enlightened  Christians.  We  slighted  their 
lesson,  and,  as  if  to  silence  these  untutored  moni- 
tors, and  drown  the  voice  of  truth  and  nature,  we 
overcame  their  virtues,  we  corrupted  them  by  our 
example :  and  I  found  slaves  held  in  bondage  by 
the  Indians  themselves — in  the  nations  of  the 
Creeks,  the  Choctaws,  the  Chickasaws,  and  the 
Cherokees. 

I  am,  &c.    • 


I  i 


'! 


LETTER  XVI. 

f'oitsmoutk,  JWijv-lhimpshire,  I'Jlh  Feb.  \'62l. 

My  last  letter  mentioned  our  safe  arrival  at 
Portland.  The  house  in  which  we  obtained  beds 
at  last,  was  a  second-rate  tavern,  filled  with  se- 
cond, or  rather  fifth  or  sixth-rate  legislators,  who 
had  left  their  app  opriate  callings  in  the  field,  the 
shop,  or  the  laboratory,  for  the  more  splendid  but 
not  less  arduous  duties  of  legislation.  Not  indeed 
that  they  appeared  to  think  them  arduous,  or  to 
suppose  that  there  was  much  mystery  in  the  af- 
fair. Not  one  of  our  own  Radicals  could  pro- 
nounce with  more  self-complacent  familiarity  on 
those  difficult  questions  of  law  or  government 
which  the  wisest  statesmen  and  philosophers  have 
approached  with  diffiderjce,  and  decided  upon 
with  hesitation.     In  (he  public  room  into  which  1 


re- 


221 

was  shown,  I  found  three  or  four  of  them  sitting, 
who  from  their  appearance,  I  supposed  to  be 
Kmall  farmers ;  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  pro- 
Ibssional  titles  which  I  soon  heard  echoed  about, 
such  as  colonel,  major,  doctor,  &c.  to  remove  the 
idea.  They  were  discussing  the  propriety  of 
abolishing  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
throwing  all  the  business  into  the  Supreme  Court : 
some  of  them  conceiving  that  a  supreme  and  sub- 
ordinate court  savoured  too  much  of  aristocracv, 
and  that  by  diminishing  the  number  of  courts,  they 
should  diminish  the  number  of  trials  and  clip  the 
profits  of  the  lawyers,  who  are  at  present  in  ra- 
ther bad  odour  in  the  young  state  of  Maine.  One 
of  them  (I  think  it  was  ihe  colonel)  took  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  question.  For  his  part,  he  said, 
"  he  did  not  like  to  throw  great  criminal  cases 
and  petty  suits  into  one  hopper  ;  and  that,  as  far  as 
his  information  went,  history  presented  no  instance 
of  it."  His  opponent  replied,  that  "  that  was  no 
reason  at  all  why  they  should  not  do  as  they 
pleased."  He  rejoined,  that  he  thought  it  was ; 
for  though  they  were  an  independent  state  at  last, 
he  did  not  see  why  they  should  set  themselves  up 
as  wiser  than  all  the  other  states :  and  tnat, 
though  little  causes  ought  to  be  settled  with  as 
much  correctness  as  great  ones,  he,  for  one, 
should  oppose  their  being  thrown  into  one  hopper  ! 
Other  questions  were  decided  with  equal  pro- 
fundity ;  and  if  the  young  man  who  was  sent  into 
a  European  cabinet  to  learn  with  how  little  wis- 
dom the  world  is  governed,  were  still  alive,  and 
required   a  second  lesson,  I  would  recommend 


!i! 


iii 


I  } 


222 

him  to  the  *<  Portland  tavern,"  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  *^  during  the  sitting  of  the  legislature."  In 
this  same  state  of  Maine  1  feel  a  particular  inter- 
est, from  having  been  present  at  the  discussion  at 
Washington  on  the  subject  of  her  admission  into 
the  Union,  and  from  her  name  being  intimately  as- 
sociated with  the  important  decision  on  the  Mis- 
souri question;  and  I  grieve  to  see  her  in  the 
hand  of  such  young  practitioners.  If  such  men 
form  the  majority  of  her  legislature,  it  must  be 
"  per  varios  casus  per  tot  discrimina  rerum,"  that 
she  obtains  political  eminence,  if  she  ever  obtain 
it.  To  a  traveller,  there  is  something  extremely 
grotesque  in  the  aspect  of  the  legislatures  in  the 
newly  formed  states,  whose  legislators  must  at  first 
be  of  a  very  motley  character :  especially  if  the 
population  be  so  scanty,  or  of  such  a  cast,  as  to 
supply  (ew  men  of  liberal  education.  A  friend 
told  me,  that  at  Corydon,  the  metropolis  of  Indi- 
ana, he  attended  the  sitting  of  the  legislature, 
when  a  member  rose  to  propose  the  removal  of 
the  seat  of  government  to  some  other  place,  on 
the  plea  that  the  price  of  board  and  lodging  at 
Corydon  was  extravagant — 18s.  per  week — and 
the  fare  bad.  The  representative  from  Corydon 
replied  sharply,  and  told  him  that  he  got  better 
living  in  that  place  than' he  ever  got  at  home; 
and  that  if  he  would  be  satisfied  with  such  food 
as  he  was  accustomed  to  at  home,  the  tavern- 
keeper  would  maintain  him  for  half  price.  This 
important  discussion  continued  so  long  that  it  was 
adjourned  till  the  following  day. 


3- 


223 


Such  exhibitions  are  surdy  a  very  legitimate 
source  of  amusement;  but  then  they  should  not 
lead  us,  as  they  too  frequently  do,  to  fix  our  at- 
tention upon  them  exclusively — to  regard  them  as 
the  rule,  not  as  the  exceptions^-as  the  ordinary 
and  prominent  features  of  American  Republican- 
ism, rather  than  as  accidental  excrescences  in  the 
extremities,  which  are  soon  outgrown  and  disap- 
pear.    They  should  be  received  also  in  connex- 
ion with  the  more  dignified  proceedings,  the  ma- 
turer  counsels,  and  the  higher  order  of  talent  to 
be  found  in  the  legislatures  of  many  of  the  older 
states ;  and  in  connexion  with  the  practical  re- 
sults of  the  free  institutions  of  America,  as  evinc- 
ed   by    her   past   and   present   prosperity.     Not 
that  I  impute  that  prosperity  exclusively  to  her 
form  of  government.     Probably  no  other  nation 
was  ever  blessed  with  such  rich  materials  of  na- 
tional  prosperity;    and    bad  indeed  must  have 
been  the  government,  and  despicable  the  popula- 
tion, which  had  not  flourished  with  such  advanta- 
ges.    Whether  a  confederated  republic   is   the 
best  form  of  government  for  a  country  so  exten- 
sive as  America,  and  under  circumstances  so  pe- 
culiar as  hers,  I  do  not  pretend  to  decide;  but  I 
confess,  for  our  country,  1  much  prefer  our  own. 
The  American  government  is  however  a  beauti- 
ful theory;  and,  in  its  leading  features,  I  think  a 
very  successful    experiment  in    politics.     I  will 
merely  mention  one  or  two  of  the  practical  evils, 
which  1  think  I  have  observed  in  passing,  in  this 
system  of  government. 

One  of  these  is  the  introduction  into  the  state 
legislatures  of  members  obviously  incompetent  to 


I 


\' 


! 


i'l 


I 


'2U 


llic  task  of'legiHluiiuii.  Natural  dagacil^  alone  i;» 
not  su/ficient,  even  it'  that  were  always  to  be  tbuiid. 
Many  of  the  topics  which  of  necessity  frequently 
occupy  the  attention,  even  of  the  state  legislatures, 
fl^maud  a  degr^  of  iniortiiation  and  habits  of  re- 
search very  foreign  indeed  to  the  pursuits  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  inetnbers.  The  conse- 
quence is,  thatignorance,  a  spirit  of  opposition,  an 
impatience  even  of  intellectual  superiority,  and  a 
desire  to  appear  to  their  constituents  to  be  Joints 
somethings  i'requently  defeat  the  most  important  and 
judicious  measures  of  the  enlightened  minority; 
while  that  minority  is  diminished  by  an  unwilling- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  community 
who  are  best  qualified  for  the  station  to  enter  the 
list  vviL  I  noisy  demagogues,  whose  declamationB 
too  ol'«'n  drown  the  voice  of  truth.  It  is  particu- 
larly unfortunate  that  the  most  diiiicult  questiofis — 
those  which  arise  in  forming  or  establishing  their 
constitution,  and  arranging  the  judiciary — are 
among  the  first  which  present  themselves  to  the 
consideration  of  the  legislatures  of  newly  erected 
states,  when  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  a  more  than 
ordinary  proportion  of  raw  and  ignorant  legisla- 
tors, and  a  deficiency  of  practical  skill  even  in  the 
wisest.  It  really  excites  a  smile  to  imagine  the 
legislature  of  Indiana,  after  settling  the  question 
whether  they  should  remove  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  some  town  where  the  tavern-keeper  would 
charge  them  13s.  6d.  instead  of  18s.  per  week  lor 
their  board,  turning  to  the  graver  and  more  appro- 
priate subjects  of  legislation, — iiujuiring  what  pro- 
portion of  democracy  they  should  iiirase  into  their 


I 


t<itm>im 


iwiii  III  r  I'  M  iW 


225 


constitution,  ntui  what  collateral  effects  wouM  re- 
sult from  each  of  the  various  modes  of  accomplish- 
ing their  purf)ose — what  should  be  the  number 
and  nature  of  their  courts  of  justice,  whether  they 
should  be  established  on  the  principle  of  concur- 
rent or  appellate  jurisdiction,  whether  their  judges 
should  be  removable  at  pleasure,  their  salary  be 
liable  to  diminution,  and  numberless  other  intri- 
cate questions. 

It  is  a  happy  circumstance  for  the  newly  erect- 
ed states,  that  they  may  always  have  access  to  the 
more  matured  systems  of  their  neighbours,  and 
that  the  effects  of  their  own  errors  are  confined  to 
themselves.  Indeed,  I  think  it  is  not  one  of  the 
least  advantages  of  the  Confederation,  that  it  ad- 
mits of  a  course  of  experiments  in  legislation  in 
each  of  the  particular  states,  without  the  slightest 
danger  of  interrupting  the  movements  of  the  gene- 
ral machine,  and  enables  all,  at  the  hazard  only 
of  their  individual  inconvenience,  to  contribute 
their  quota  of  political  experience  to  the  common 
stock. 

Another  of  the  evils  to  which  I  referred,  as  flow- 
ing perhaps  of  necessity,  froai  the  democratical 
institutiogs  of  America,  is  the  subserviency  to  po- 
pular opinion  which  they  appear  to  entail  on  the 
legislative  and  executive  officers.  I  had  no  idea 
of  the  degree  in  which  popularity  was  made  a  pri- 
mary and  avowed  object  of  pursuit  here :  nor  of  the 
extensive  sacrific'-^vfpersonal  independence  which 
are  made  at  her  h-ine.  In  this  free  government, 
many  of  the  senators  and  representatives  are  far 

29 


U2(> 


h      I 


It'Sb  the  servant  than  the  slaves  of  their  constitu- 
ents: and  they  must  be  fond  indeed  of  public  ho- 
nours who  are  willing  to  buy  them  at  the  price  they 
frequently  cost.  Eminent  talents  indeed,  combin- 
ed with  patriotism  and  disinterestedness  too  une- 
quivocal to  be  suspected,  will  command  popularity  ; 
but  common  men,  if  they  would  attain  popularity, 
must  make  it  their  pursuit.  !  Iiave  seen  nothiig 
to  lead  me  to  suppose  that  the  intluence  of  suc'.i  a 
pursuit  on  individual  character  is  at  all  more  enno- 
bling or  elevating  on  the  western  than  on  the  east- 
ern shores  of  the  Atlantic,  or  to  convince  me  that 
public  spirit  and  patriotism  are  the  natural  and 
necessary  results  of  republican  institutions. 

But,  independently  of  the  injurious  moral  effects 
of  an  insatiable  appetite  for  popularity  in  the  in- 
dividual, a  constant  reference  to  popular  favour 
imposes  very  inconvenient  trammels  on  the  repre- 
sentative, in  the  discharge  of  his  legislative  duties. 
He  is  too  apt  to  consider  himself  as  addressing  his 
constituents  rather  than  the  legislative  assembly, 
and  to  thiiik  less  of  the  efTect  his  speech  is  likely 
to  produce  in  favour  of  his  argument  in  the  capi- 
tol,  than  in  favour  of  himself  at  home.  As  an  in- 
centive to  activity,  this  may  have  a  good  effect: 
but  the  efforts  to  which  it  prompts,  especially  in 
the  way  of  oratorical  flourishes,  do  not  always  pro- 
duce advantages  to  the  public,  commensurate  with 
the  care  and  trouble,  "the  anxious  days  and  sleep- 
less nights,"  they  may  have  cost  the  individual.  I 
was  informed  that  it  is  common  for  the  new  mem- 
bers to  make  great  exertion  soon  after  the  meet- 
ing of  congress,  to  send  home  a  speech  to  their  con- 


\. 


<r^£i 


227 


»tituents  in  the  National  Intelligencer;  and  then, 
if  they  tind  tliat  the  genius  of  eloquence  has  rjot 
favoured  them,  they  perhaps  remain  silent  during 
the  rest  of  the  session.  But  this  is  hardly  safe ; 
for  a  silent  representative  is  seldom  a  popular 
one.  A  friend  informed  me,  that  in  passing  through 
Pennsylvania,  a  Pennsylvanian,  speaking  to  him  oi 
a  member  of  congress,  said,  "  He  won't  get  in 
again,  1  guess:  for  we  never  see  no  speech  of  his 
in  the  papers ;  and  we  can't  have  a  man  that  says 
nothing  tor  his  pay." 

But,  after  all,  I  think  it  impossible  for  an  unpre- 
jtidiced  stranger  to  visit  the  beautiful  Senate-cham- 
ber and  House  of  Representatives  in  the  capitol  at 
Washington  without  being  struck  with  the  intelli- 
gence and  practical  skill  of  corjgress  ;  the  regula- 
rity of  their  proceedings ;  their  ready,  perspicu- 
ous, forcible,  business-like  style  of  eloquence,  and, 
with  some  exceptions,  their  habitual  courtesy  and 
attention  to  the  feelings  of  opponents.  He  would 
sometimes  witness,  in  American  oratory,  the  fresh- 
ness of  youth,  the  fervour  of  boundless  anticipa- 
tion, and  that  consciousness  of  personal  identity 
with  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  his  country,  which 
a  popular  govenunent  infuses  into  the  meanest 
citizen  ;  but  he  would  seldom  be  dazzled  with  the 
corruscations  of  cultivated  genius,  or  electrified 
with  bursts  of  impassioned  feeling,  and  would  seek 
in  vain  in  the  American  Congress  for  tiiat  indefi- 
nable but  irresistible  chain  which  classical  asso- 
ciations, the  refinements  of  polished  society,  nnd  a 
history  rich  in  all  that  is  illuritrious  iuid  veiicral>le, 
imparts  to  the  eloquence  of  a  British  P;uTii:ineiil. 


n 


228 


if 


¥     :    I 


^ 


LETTER  XIX. 

'  Hartford,  Connecticut,  1st  March,  "[^21. 

In  my  last  letter  I  mentioned  our  arrival  in 
Portland  on  the  16th  ult.  I  will  now  give  you  a 
brief  sketch  of  our  journey  from  Portland  to  U  'rt- 
ford. 

At  Portland  I  found,  at  a  respectable  boarding- 
house  where  I  lodged,  among  other  persons,  the 
Governor  of  the  state,  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  eight  or  ten  of  the  most 
respectable  members.  There  was  a  common 
table  at  which  all  ordinarily  assembled  ;  and  a 
common  sitting-room,  where  they  seemed  to  pass 
their  leisure  in  reading  the  newspapers  and  smok- 
ing segars.  For  the  very  lirst  time  since  my  arri- 
val in  America,  I  had  actually  at  this  boarding- 
house  a  parlour  to  myself,  which  arose  from  the 
circumstance  of  its  being,  in  the  first  instance, 
designed  for  my  bed-room.  It  was  a  luxury  in- 
deed to  feel  alone,  and  likely  to  remain  so,  with- 
out shutting  myself  up  in  my  bed-chamber,  in 
which  1  have  lived  for  the  last  year  when  not  in 
society  or  on  the  road.  My  hopes  of  retirement 
in  my  parlour,  however,  were  soon  shaken;  for 
the  landlord  brought  a  gentleman  to  me,  who, 
after  conversing  a  few  minutes,  said,  he  was  come 
to  take  me  into  the  dining-room,  to  introduce  me 
to  the  company.  He  was  a  young  lawyer,  gentle- 
manly in  his  manners,  and,  I  found  afterwards, 
had  been  educated  at  Harvard  College,  Cam- 
bridge.    As  we  sat  down  to  dinner,  at  one  o'clock, 


1. 


229 


T,  m 
bot  in 
iment 
;  lor 
who, 
Icome 
;e  me 
ntle- 
ards, 
iCam- 
;lock. 


he  introduced  me  to  most  of  the  gentlemen  by 
name,  and,  among  others,  to  tho  Secretary  oi' 
the  State.  The  rest  of  the  company,  although  1 
doubt  not  intelligent  and  acute,  1  certainly  should 
not  (at  least  on  my  first  arrival  in  America)  have 
guessed  to  be  a  body  of  legislators.     The  landlady 

presided,  with  Mrs. ,  the  wife  of  the  speaker, 

on  her  right;  and  the  landlord  sat  down  towards 
the  close  of  dinner,  after  having  waited  on  his 
guests,  and  assisted  the  waiters  till  all  the  com- 
pany were  helped.  He  was  very  civil,  and  came 
into  my  room  hall-a-dozcn  times  in  the  course  ol 
the  evening  to  loot  at  my  fire,  and  see  if  I  wanted 
any  thing.  An  English  landlord  could  not  have 
been  more  respectful  and  attentive.  In  the  course 
of  the  evening,  the  youug  lawyer  also  paid  me  a 
second  visit,  with  real  good  nature,  bringing  in  a 
friend  "  lest  I  should  be  lonely."  I  give  you  these 
little  incidents  to  shew  the  habits  of  the  country. 
As  they  found  me  busy  writing,  however,  th<'y 
stopped  only  half  an  hour,  and  retired,  saying, 
they  would  not  interrupt  me,  but  would  attend 
me  to  any  church  in  the  morning  to  which  I  liked 
to  go. 

In  the  morning,  accordingly,  the  young  lawyer 
accompanied  me  to  the  Episcopal  church,  where 
a  young  minister  preached  on  the  importance  of 
contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints;  a  subject  suggested  by  the  activity  of 
Unitarian  eflforts,  and  by  an  act  then  betbre  the 
legislature,  which  it  was  supposed  would  operate 
unfavourably  on  the  interests  of  religion.  The 
church  was  profusely  adorned  with  festoons  of 


( 


\    r 


2;jo 


I  C 


■I 


■■  1 


'      I 


" Christmas;"  and  on  one  side  of  the  pulpit  was 
neatly  printed,  in  large  letters  of  spruce,  "  Unto 
us  a  Child  is  born  ;"  on  the  other,  "  Unto  us  a  Son 
is  given."  The  congregation  was  respectable  in 
numbers  and  appearance.  In  the  afternoon  we 
went  to  the  Calvinistic  Congregationalist  church 
(places  of  worship  of  all  denominations  are  here 
called  churches,)  where  we  found  a  congregation 
still  more  numerous.  An  elderly  minister  gave 
us  a  logical,  metaphysical,  scriptural  sermon,  on 
"  the  immutability  of  God."  On  my  return  home, 
among  my  landlord's  books  I  found  Scott's  Bible, 
Burder's  Village  Sermons,  Baxter's  Saint's  Rest, 
Watt's  Hymn  Book,  and  Saurin's  Sermons.  I  add- 
ed to  them  the  Dairyman's  daughter,  a  favourite 
travelling  companion  of  mine;  since,  independ- 
ently of  the  deep  interest  of  its  simple  tale,  and 
its  exquisite  and  touching  picture  of  rustic  piety, 
it  places  so  distinctly  before  me  the  village  spires, 
rustic  cottages,  and  sequestered  lanes  of  my  native 
country,  and  the  hoary  locks  and  venerable 
tigures  of  her  aged  peasants.  I  think  I  told  you 
how  delighted  1  was  at  finding  this  little  tract  in  a 
shop  at  Mobile,  in  that  land  of  darkness,  the  shores 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

While  in  Portland  I  found  the  snow  in  many 
places  two  feet  deep  for  a  great  distance,  and 
perhaps  fourteen  inches  deep  where  it  was  the 
thinnest.  I  counted  twenty-two  sleighs  at  the 
church  door  on  Sunday.  1  saw  the  town  under 
unfavourable  circumstances ;  but  it  had  a  very 
respectable  appearance,  many  of  the  houses  being 
larjie  and  handsome,  with  extensive  courts  beibre 


|many 
and 

IS  the 

It  the 
mder 
very 

|being 
»eibre 


23  r 


tlic  doors,  ornamented  with  shrubs  and  grass-plots. 
Thr  bay  and  the  adjacent  scenery  are  very  pictn- 
resqiic. 

We  left  Portland,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
on  the  19th.  The  roads  were  so  blocked  up 
with  snow,  that  the  mail  and  passengers  were 
obliged  to  be  carried  in  an  open  sleigh :  it  was 
very  cold  :  the  thermometer,  I  should  think,  not 
being  above  zero:  but  the  moon  shone  so  bright- 
ly on  the  new  fallen  snow,  that  we  should  have 
been  sorry  to  have  missed  this  beautiful  winter 
scene,  by  being  cooped  up  in  a  close  carriage. 
We  reached  Saco,  fifteen  miles,  to  breakfast, 
when  it  was  determined  to  dispatch  us  in  two 
sleighs,  our  unicorn  equipage  being  found  incon- 
venient in  the  snow  drifts,  from  having  two  horses 
abreast.  James  and  I  were  put  up  into  a  tandem 
sleigh,  about  as  large  as  a  parlour  coal-box,  op  a 
little  larger,  the  driver  standing  up  to  drive. 
Our  two  companions  followed  with  one  horse  in 
a  similar  sleigh  ;  and  avvay  we  went  over  the  snow- 
drifts, the  music  of  our  bells  resemblirjg  a  concert 
of  Jews'-harps.  Sometimes  the  bells  of  our  com- 
panion suddenly  ceased,  or  literally  "f/roy?/;"  for, 
on  looking  behind,  we  used  to  find  that  their  horse 
had  partially  disappeared, — his  chin  resting  on  a 
snow-drift,  and  his  countenance  exhibiting  a  most 
piteous  expression  of  helplessness.  At  other 
times  our  horses  fell  through,  ^nd  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  we  extricated  them;  the  snow  being 
sufficiently  frozen  to  be  of  a  very  inconvenient 
consistence,  although  not  always  hard  enough 
to  carry  us  rapidl>  on  its  surface.     Our  horses 


■ 


i 


f 


i    J 


were  sometimes  prostrate  three  or  four  times  in 
twenty  yards.  Once  we  were  obliged  to  be  cut 
out,  and  at  another  time  to  have  mere  than  twenty 
men  and  several  oxen  to  clear  our  way,  the  drifts 
on  the  road  being  from  six  to  twelve  feet  deep. 
As  we  had  excellent  drivers,  however,  who  drove 
with  great  rapidity  where  the  road  would  admit 
of  it,  we  reached  Portsmouth,  sixty  miles  from 
Portland,  at  four  o'clock — eleven  hours — after  an 
amusing  and  agreeable,  and  in  some  degree  ad- 
venturous, ride.  The  cold  morning  was  succeed- 
ed, as  is  often  ihe  case  in  this  fickle  climate,  by  a 
beautiful  warm  day :  and  although  the  road,  ex- 
cept in  the  vicinity  of  the  pine  hills,  is  rather  level, 
the  fir  groves  and  large  masses  of  rock  often  com- 
bine with  the  open  sea,  which  is  almost  constant- 
ly in  sight,  to  form  rather  interesting  views.  The 
country  is  tolerably  well  settled,  and  we  passed 
through  several  little  towns ;  but  the  houses  beinir 
less  frequently  painted  than  in  other  parts  of 
New-England,  have  neither  the  same  neat  nor 
flourishing  aspect.  The  people,  however,  seem 
every  where  busy  and  robust. 

Portsmouth  is  a  noble  harbour  on  the  Piscata- 
qua,  which  is  so  deep  that  the  vessels  discharge 
along  the  wharf;  and  so  rapid,  that  even  in  this 
winter,  the  severest  which  has  been  known  in 
America  for  at  least  forty  years,  its  navigation  has 
never  been  interru|fted.  A  navy  yard  is  estab- 
lished near  the  town,  where  "  The  Congress,"  and 
other  ships  of  war  were  built,  and  where  they  are 
now  building  a  seventy-four  gun  frigate.  As  the 
best   boarding-house   in   Portsmouth  was   full,  I 


'I 


233 


;^ent  to  the  stage  inn,  rather  a  dirty  scrambling 
tavern;  where  I  found  at  breakfast  the  next 
morning,  amid  a  motley  group,  one  of  the  judges 
and  several  lawyers.  The  supreme  court  was  to 
be  opened  early  in  the  morning ;  and  as  it  was  be- 
fore my  hours  of  commercial  calls,  I  attended  to 
hear  the  jury  sworn  in,  and  the  judge's  charge. 
Both  the  grand  and  petty  jury,  in  the  appearance 
of  which  I  could  discern  no  difference,  seemed  to 
be  composed  of  respectable  yeomanry,  of  about 
the  same  rank  as  our  farmers  of  300/.  to  500/.  per 
annum.  They  listened  with  great  attention  while 
the  judges  read  (not  spoke,  which  took  greatly 
from  its  effect,)  a  plain  sensible  charge,  much  to 
the  point.  The  aspect  of  the  court  in  general 
pleased  me,  from  the  homely  suitable  appearance 
of  those  of  whom  it  was  composed ;  home-spun 
clothes,  with  large  buttons  and  long  waists,  waist- 
coats with  the  old  triangular  indenture  or  pointed 
Haps,  and  hats  with  good  broad  respectable  brims; 
the  absence,  in  fact,  of  all  affectation  of  fashion, 
or  awkward  attempts  at  city  spruceness.  This 
has  pleased  me  particularly  throughout  New-Eng- 
land, and  forms  a  contrast  with  the  style  of  dress 
which  meets  the  eye  generally  in  passing  alo.ng 
the  road  on  the  sea-board  of  the  middle  and  south- 
ern states,  where  blue  coats,  black  waistcoats, 
and  blue  pantaloons,  produce  a  monotony  far  less 
agreeable  and  picturesque  than  a  variety  of  dress 
adapted,  or  apparently  adapted,  to  the  various 
employments  of  the  wearers. — I  had  little  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  society  of  Portsmouth,  as  my 
stay  was  so  short :  but  1  met  with  some  whose  man- 

30 


:  i 


fi    \ 


234 


H 


V  I'-; 


fe 


tiers  convinced  me  that  I  should  have  found  a  re- 
fined and  polished  circle  there,  if  I  had  remained. 
From  Portsmouth  we  reached  Newburyport, 
where  I  walked  down  towards  sun-set  (or  sun- 
down, as  it  is  always  called  in  this  country,)  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack,  and  had  a  noble 
view  of  the  open  sea.  The  roads  in  this  part  of 
the  country  are  excellent,  and  the  finger-posts 
are  so  like  ours  pointing  to  Salisbur"  iswich,  &c. 
that  it  was  easy  to  imagine  myself  in  tu  •  South  of 
England.  In  most  towns  in  New-England  the 
houses  generally  stand  alone  in  a  court  or  garden, 
with  lofty  trees  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  The 
inn  was  a  large  brick  house,  in  which  I  had  a  spa- 
cious bed-room,  as  neatly  furnished  as  at  the  prin- 
cipal inns  at  Bath  or  Cheltenham.  I  rose  very 
early  the  next  morning,  and  spent  half  an  hour  in 
a  churchyard  in  the  neighbourhood,  in  the  hope 
of  seeing  the  sun  rise  clear  out  of  the  Atlantic,  a 
few  hours  after  he  had  risen  on  you  all  in  the 
East;  but  a  little  invidious  cliflf  intervened.  The 
ocean,  however,  was  beautiful;  and  this  quiet 
churchyard  on  a  foreign  shore  gave  *rise  to  many 
solemn  and  very  interesting  reflections. — The  22d 
was  Washington's  birth-day,  which,  in  the  princi- 
pal cities,  generally  gives  rise  to  public  dinners 
and  balls.  Here  the  afternoon  seemed  to  be 
made  a  holiday,  and  the  young  men  turned  out  in 
great  numbers,  very  nicely  dressed. 

On  the  23d  1  left  Newburyport  for  Salem, 
twenty-five  miles  distant,  where  we  arrived  at 
noon.  The  surface  of  the  ground  was  generally 
well  cultivated;   but  I  often  observed  immense 


und  a  rc- 
remaitied. 
bury  port, 

(or  sun- 
intry,)  to 

a  noble 
is  part  of 
ger-posts 
wich,&c. 
South  of 
;land  the 
r  garden, 
ty.  The 
ad  a  spa- 
the  prin- 
[)se  very 

I  hour  in 
he  hope 
tlantic,  a 

II  in  the 
d.  The 
lis  quiet 
to  many 
rhe  22d 
B  princi- 

dinners 
1  to  be 
d  out  in 

Salem, 
rived  at 
snerally 
tnmense 


235 

rocks,  apparently  growing  in  the  fields,  and  evinc- 
ing that  the  country  immediately  on  the  coast 
was  more  indebted  to  man  than  to  nature  for  any 
appearance  of  fertility  it  might  "exhibit.  Indeed, 
I  think  a  great  part  of  the  road  between  Newbury- 
port  and  Boston  presetits  a  more  rocky  region 
than  I  ever  before  saw  in  a  state  of  cultivation ; 
but  every  thing  seems  to  yield  to  the  proverbial 
perseverance  of  New-England.  I  have  seen  a 
New-Englander  clearing  what  appeared  to  me 
a  barren  rock,  for  the  sake  of  the  narrow  strips 
of  soil  in  the  crevices;  and  I  could  not  help  thi  ik- 
ing with  what  a  smile  of  contempt  a  Mississippi 
or  Alabama  planter  would  recall  such  a  scene  to 
his  recollection,  while  standing  with  folded  arms 
over  his  slaves  as  they  hoed  his  rich  alluvion. 
But  both  his  contempt  and  pity  would  be  sadly 
misplaced.  The  loose  gray  stone  walls,  instead 
of  the  rail  fences  so  common  throughout  all  Ame- 
rica South  of  Rhode  Island  or  New  York,  and 
the  spreading  tress  standing  single  in  the  fields — 
for,  except  on  the  road  side,  we  have  long  been 
accustomed  to  see  them  either  grouped,  as  in  our 
|)lantations,  with  no  power  to  expand,  or  losing 
their  individual  character  in  the  depth  of  forests — 
recalled  my  thoughts  to  Yorkshire  or  Derbyshire. 
Before  we  reached  Salem  we  passed  through 
Ipswich,  venerable  in  this  country  for  its  age, 
for  it  was  settled  in  1632,  twelve  years  after  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

From  Salem  I  rode  over  to  Marblehead,  to  see 
some  old  friends.  They  gave  me  a  warm  recep- 
tion, and  their  welcome  had  m  it  much  of  JScotch 


if 


236 


cordiality.  Sterne  says,  he  pities  the  man  who 
can  travel  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and  say  it  is  alt 
barren.  1  much  pity  his  ill  fortune,  who  can  tra- 
vel from  Maine  to  Georgia,  and  say  the  Americans, 
men  and  women,  have  no  hearts.  He  will  indeed 
in  taverns  and  bar-rooms  meet  with  many  whose 
manners  are  calculated  to  give  him  that  impres- 
sion ;  but  a  little  acquaintance  with  American  so- 
ciety must  shew  him  that  it  is  an  erroneous  one. 
Indeed,  I  deliberately  think  that  a  cursory  tra- 
veller must  be  struck  with  the  evidence  of  more 
good  nature,  and  a  greater  spirit  of  accomodation 
in  the  stages  here  than  with  us,  and  certainly  of 
more  uniform  and  marked  respect  to  female  tra- 
vellers, though  often  under  the  most  cold  and  for- 
bidding manners.  77ms  1  was  not  prepared  to  ex- 
pect; and  often,  in  making  these  favourable  repre- 
sentations, I  have  to  cross-examine  myself,  and  ask, 
"  Are  these  things  really  so  ?"  Sometimes  where 
the  case  is  doubtful,  1  bring  my  opinions  to  a  se- 
verer test.  I  wait  till  the  next  time  that  I  find  my- 
self in  circumstances  not  particularly  calculated  to 
excite  good  humour;  and  if,  when  sitting  in  a  bar- 
room, while  they  are  lighting  a  fire  in  my  chamber, 
(and  I  never  sit  there  longer,  though  it  is  often  the 
only  sitting-room,)  enveloped  in  segar  smoke,  and 
watching  my  companions  pour  down  their  throats 
the  liquid  flame  that  is  to  consume  their  vitals ;  if, 
when  received  in  sufferance  by  a  frigid  landlord, 
who  seems  afraid  to  degrade  himself  by  being  civil 
(a  case  which  has  happened,  though  you  will  have 
seen  from  ray  letters  not  very  frequently  ;)  or  if, 
when  more  than  usually  annoyed  (for  it  is  a  daily 


? 


<«*.*i«<»'- —■"——' 


237 


nn  who 
it  is  all 
:an  tra- 
Bricans, 
indeed 
r  whose 
impres- 
can  so- 
>us  one. 
yry  tra- 
jf  more 
odation 
ainly  of 
lale  tra- 
and  for- 
d  to  ex- 
e  repre- 
and  askf 
15  where 
to  a  se- 
ind  rny- 
ated  to 
a  bar- 
lamber, 
ten  the 
ke,  and 
throats 
als ;  if, 
ndlord, 
ng  civil 
II  have 
;)  or  if, 
a  daily 


Hnd  grievous  annoyance,)  by  the  very  general  and 
most  disgusting  habit  of  spitting,  without  regard  to 
time,  place,  or  circumstance ;  if  at  such  times  [ 
find  my  faith  in  my  favourable  sentiments  un- 
shaken, and  feel  convinced  of  their  correctness,  1 
place  them  as  Mr.  Cecil  placed  his  tried  charac- 
ters, upon  the  shelf.  But  if  fresh  circumstances 
should  arise  to  excite  a  suspicion  that,*  after  all,  my 
impressions  are  erroneous,  I  wait  till  provoked  by 
the  malicious  misrepresentations  of  the  state  of 
things  in  my  own  country,  or  by  ill-natured  remarks 
on  acknowledged  defects  in  her  institutions ;  and  if 
I  still  feel  bound  by  sincerity  and  candour  to  make 
my  former  admissions,  I  seldom  suffer  myself  again 
to  call  them  into  question. 

Marblehead,  the  second  town  in  the  common- 
wealth before  the  revolution,  is  now  comparative- 
ly "  the  top  of  a  rock,  a  place  for  the  spreading  of 
nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."  It  is  from  this  place 
principally,  that  the  Newfoundland  fishery  is  car- 
ried on.  The  trade,  however,  has  latterly  been 
very  unproductive;  and  1  saw  the  fishing  craft, 
which  was  now  drawn  on  shore,  very  generally 
advertised  for  sale  or  charter. 

On  the  27th  I  dined  with  an  old  friend  at  Salem. 
Our  conversation  turned  a  good  deal  on  the  re- 
maining traces  of  the  primitive  manners  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers.  One  of  these  I  found  was  the 
substitution  of  a  thanksgiving  day  in  November, 
instead  of  Christmas  day,  and  the  renunciation  of 
so  heretic  a  dish  as  mince-pies,  as  connected  with 
that  day,  as  associated  with  ecclesiastic  institu- 
tions  which  the    Puritans   held   in    abhorrence. 


i 
I 

» 


«( 


m 


238 


( .      •'>  'I 


■■f,       >  s 


I     * 


Christmas  day,  however,  is  now  observed  more 
and  more  generally  every  year,  and  mince-pies  we 
find  in  every  tavern.  Another  Puritanic  custom 
(which  f  was  informed  still  lingers  in  Boston  also,) 
is  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  on 
Saturday  night,  and  its  termination  on  Sunday 
evening,  at  five  or  six  o'clock  (^*  the  evening  and 
the  morning  were  the  first  day.")  My  friend  told 
me,  that  in  a  very  strict  family  in  Connecticut  in 
which  he  was  brought  up,  (a  clergyman's  family,) 
Saturday  evening  was  observed  with  the  greatest 
strictness  and  rigidity,  and  Sunday  also  till  after 
tea,  when  the  orthodox  lady  invariably  brought 
out  her  knitting. — Before  I  leave  Salem  I  should 
add,  that  it  is  a  singular  little  town,  of  astonishing 
wealth,  and  formerly  had  sixty  or  seventy  ships  in 
the  India  trade,  employed  principally  in  carrying 
the  produce  of  China  and  the  Eastern  Archipela- 
go to  the  various  parts  of  Europe.  Indeed,  most 
of  the  large  commercial  fortunes  I  have  observed 
in  America,  some  of  them  almost  without  a  paral- 
el  in  Europe,  have  been  made  in  those  branches 
of  the  East  India  trade  rvhich  our  East  India  Com- 
pany never  engaged  in,  but  from  which  their  mo- 
nopoly entirely  excludes  British  subjects. 

We  reached  Boston  at  10  o'clock  at  night,  and 
lay  on  two  chairs  at  the  stage-house  till  two,  when 
we  set  off  for  Northampton,  100  miles  distant, 
where  we  arrived  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
afler  passing  through  Worcester  and  Leicester. 
The  following  day  we  set  out  for  Hartford.  The 
part  of  the  valley  of  Connecticut  through  which 
we  passed  is  generally  admitted  to  be  one  of  the 


239 


more 
lies  we 
sustom 
1  also,) 
>ath  on 
junday 
ng  and 
nd  told 
ticut  in 
amily,) 
reatest 
[I  after 
)rought 
should 
nishing 
ships  in 
arrying 
hipela- 
d,  most 
)served 
I  paral- 
anches 
ia  Cora- 
leir  mo- 

ht,  and 
when 
distant, 
vening, 
icester. 
The 
which 
of  the 


tinest  portions  of  the  cultivated  regions  of  Ame- 
rica, and  the  panoramic  views  from  some  of  the 
eminences,  will,  I  hope,  be  one  day  rendered  more 
familiar  to  British  imagination,  cither  by  the  pen- 
cil or  the  pen.  We  rode  a  great  part  of  the  day 
on  the  very  brink  of  the  river,  which  appeared  to 
be  from  a  third  to  half  a  mile  broad.  The  ground 
was  covered  with  snow ;  but  the  day  was  bright, 
and  every  twig  was  enclosed  in  a  sparkling  icicle. 
On  this  day^s  route  we  saw  some  of  the  finest  Ame- 
rican elms  we  have  observed  in  the  country.  They 
are  very  different  from  ours,  far  more  lofly  and 
expanded ;  and  every  branch  is  like  a  separate 
tree.  I  think  I  almost  give  them  the  preference 
over  either  the  live  oaks  or  magnolias  of  the  Caro- 
linas,  or  the  tulip  trees  or  sycamores  of  the  west- 
ern country.  The  timber  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
with  the  exception  of  the  pine,  does  not  generally 
exceed  ours  in  size;  at  which  I  was  much  disap- 
pointed at  our  first  arrival ;  but  as  you  proceed 
westward  it  improves  in  magnitude,  till  it  reaches 
the  stupendous  size  of  those  tulip  or  sycamore 
trees,  at  the  sight  of  which  we  have  often  stopped 
our  horses  almost  instinctively,  and  sat  lost  in  as- 
tonishment. Indeed,  a  person  travelling  from  Bos- 
ton to  Savannah  along  the  coast,  which  is  the  or- 
dinary road,  will  know  as  little  of  the  fertility, 
beauty,  or  magnificence  of  this  highly  favoured 
country,  as  he  will  of  the  society,  if  his  observa- 
tions are  confined  to  steam  boats,  stages,  or  hotels. 
How  often  have  I  wished  for  you  in  the  autumn, 
to  show  you  an  American  forest,  in  its  coat  of 
many  colours !  i  do  not  exactly  know  the  reason 


!i 


240 


(it  is  stated  to  be  the  early  occurrence  of  frost)  ; 
but  the  foliage  here  seems  to  assume  its  varie- 
gated autumnal  appearance  before  the  leaves  be- 
gin to  fall,  and  the  beautiful  tints  and  mellow  hues, 
far  deeper  and  more  diversified  than  ours,  often 
blended  harmoniously  in  the  same  tree,  or  con- 
trasted with  the  deepest  green  of  a  kindred  branch, 
appear  too  healthy  and  vigorous  to  be  precursors 
of  dissolution  or  symptoms  of  decay.  The  late 
Dr.  Dwight  has  remarked  that  he  was  surprised 
that  this  beautiful  appearance  was  not  described 
by  Thomson  in  his  seasons;  but,  upon  inquiry, 
he  found  that  it  was  unknown  in  Great  Britain. 
The  bright  yellow  of  the  walnut,  the  scarlet  of  the 
maple,  the  fresh  green  of  the  laurel,  and  the  som- 
bre brown  of  the  cedar,  are  often  the  most  promi- 
nent colours  ;  but  these  are  mingled  with  a  variety 
of  others  more  soft  and  delicate,  which  melt  im- 
perceptibly into  each  other,  and  throw  a  rich  and 
luxuriant  beauty  over  the  gorgeous  forest. 

I  have  already  said  so  much  of  the  extreme 
clearness  and  transparency  of  the  atmosphere  in 
this  country,  that  I  dare  scarcely  allude  to  it  again 
to  tell  you  how  much  it  adds  to  the  beauty  of  the 
natural  scenery.  Indeed  a  common  landscape  is 
often  rendered  beautiful  by  the  extreme  distinct- 
ness with  which  every  outline  is  defined,  or  the 
vivid  colouring  with  which,  at  sunset,  the  air  itself 
seems  suffused.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  pu- 
rity of  the  atmosphere  does  not  add  still  more  to 
the  beauty  of  a  moonlight  scene.  A  winter  moon- 
light night  in  America,  when  the  ground  is  cover- 
ed with  snow,  is  really  like  enchantment.  On  a 
beautiful  autumnal  dav,  w  ith  not  a  cloud  to  inter- 


2U 


frost)  ; 
;  varie- 
k^es  be- 
/v  hues, 
3,  often 
)r  con- 
[)ranch, 
cursors 
tie  late 
rprised 
scribed 
inquiry, 
Britain. 
?t  of  the 
he  som- 
t  promi- 
variety 
iielt  im- 
ich  and 

xtrenif 
►here  in 
it  again 
y  of  the 
cape  is 
listincl- 
or  the 
ir  itsell 
the  pu- 
niore  to 
r  moon- 
s  cover- 
On  a 
o  inter- 


cept  the  rays  of  the  sun,  I  have  seen  a  planet  quite 
distinctly  at  three  o^clock  in  the  ^ifternoon  ut 
Boston. 

I  am  not,  however,  enamoured  of  ihe  cHmate ;  or 
at  least,  I  have  deliberately  decided  in  favour  of 
our  own, — the  vicissitudes  here  being  very  sud- 
den, and  the  extremes  formidable;  but  there  are 
(and  very  frequently)  days  so  beautiful  that  [  feel 
as  if  I  would  pay  almost  any  price  for  the  enjoy- 
ment ihey  bring.  When  at  Montreal  in  August, 
we  had  the  thermometer  one  day  at  99  deg.,  and 
in  Boston,  in  September,  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
evening  at  93  or  9t  deg.;  it  having  risen  17  de- 
grees in  nine  hours.  At  New-Haven,  in  Connec- 
ticut, when  I  was  there  last  month,  the  thermo- 
meter was  12  deg. ;  at  Springfield  23  deg. ;  and  at 
Northampton  26  deg.  below  zero.  In  the  Caroli- 
nas  and  Georgia,  a  variation  of  20  degrees  in  24 
hours  is  common.  In  Charleston,  on  the  17th 
March,  1819,  the  thermometer  fell  33  deg.  in  12 
hours;  in  1761,46  deg.  in  16  hours.  At  the  same 
season  of  the  year,  the  heat  in  different  latitudes 
of  this  continent  varies  to  a  great  extent  In  Feb- 
ruary last,  while  we  were  opprestsed  with  heat 
amidst  the  orange  groves  of  Charleston,  and  eating 
^reen  peas  grown  in  the  open  air,  they  were 
sleighing  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  and  the 
mail  from  New-Yor!i  was  stopped  two  or  three 
days  by  snow.  On  the  6th  ol  February,  the  pre- 
ceding year,  the  thermometer  was  33  deg.  below 
zero  at  Montreal,  and  67  deg.  above  at  Savannah- 
•  I  am,  k\\ 


31 


il 


2  J2 


lettp:r  XX. 


i 


We  left  Hartford  in  Connecticut,  on  the  2(1  of 
March  1821,  in  the  Albany  stage  or  sleigh,  to  visit 
the  Missionary  School  at  Cornwall  ;  and  at  the 
distance  of  about  six  miles  crossed  what  is  call- 
ed "  the  Mountain,"  from  the  summit  of  which  we 
had  a  charming  view  of  the  Connecticut  valley  on 
the  one  side,  and  of  another  extensive  and  very 
beautiful  valley  o'-  the  other.  The  descent  into 
it  was  very  steep;  and  soon  after  we  had  crossed 
the  high  land  which  forms  its  opposite  boundary, 
we  passed  through  some  very  romantic  glens,  in 
one  of  which  New-Hartford  is  situated.  Here 
we  dined;  and  as  the  road  to  Cornwall  now 
branched  off  from  the  Albany  road,  we  were 
obliged  to  obtain  a  private  sleigh.  It  was  an  open 
one;  and  although  the  day  was  extremely  cold, 
we  were  not  sorry  to  have  nothing  to  interrupt 
our  view.  The  country  became  dreary  and  unin- 
teresting as  v/e  approached  Goshen ;  but  on 
drawing  near  to  Cornwall  about  sunset,  we  had 
some  beautiful  mountain  scenery,  very  similar  to 
some  of  the  mountain  scenery  in  Tennessee,  near 
Brainerd.  It  one  respect,  indeed  there  was  a 
striking  contrast.  In  both  cases  the  hills  were 
clothed  with  wood  ;  but  the  valleys,  which  in  Ten- 
nessee were  hidden  under  a  sombre  mantle  of  un- 
broken forest,  were  here  enlivened  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  cultivation,  and  animated  with  all  the 
cheering  indications  of  civilized  life.  *To  the  eye 
of  an  Englishmen — to  whom  the  siirlit  of  wood.'? 


21:5 


V 


le  2d  o< 
,  to  visit 
1  at  the 
is  call- 
hich  we 
alley  on 
nd  very 
;ent  into 
crossed 
)undary, 
glens,  in 
Here 
all   now 
ye  were 
an  open 
ily  cold, 
nterrupt 
nd  unin- 
but    on 
we  had 
imiiar  to 
ee,  near 
was   a 
lis  were 
I  in  Ten- 
e  of  un- 
\  the  ap- 
1  all  the 
the  eye 
f  wood^ 


usually  suggests  ideas  ol'shade  and  shelter,  ol' ru- 
ral beauty  or  of  such  sylvan  solitudes  only  as 
are  sedulously  preser;  ed  to  afford  protection  to 
game,  to  add  variety  to  park  scenery,  or  to  con- 
trast with  rich  cultivation  in  their  immediate  vi- 
cinity— the  trees  which  generally  cover  the  Ame- 
rican mountains,  even  to  their  summits,  detract 
somewhat  from  the  sublimity.  In  the  imagina- 
tion of  an  American,  on  the  contrary,  they  invest 
them  with  whatever  of  dreary  desolation,  desert 
magnificence,  and  savage  nature,  he  has  learned 
from  infancy  to  associate  with  his  interminable 
forests,  and  with  the  wild  beasts  and  savage  In- 
dians which  inhabit  them.  With  him,  wc  jdland 
scenery,  even  of  a  milder  character,  partakes  of 
the  sublime ;  and  if  mere  cultivation  be  not  beau- 
ty, it  is  closely  allied  to  it  in  his  imagination ;  and 
from  its  intimate  connexion  with  utility,  which  en- 
ters largely  into  his  idea  of  beauty,  it  awakens 
many  kindred  associations.  Every  acre  reclaimed 
from  the  wilderness  is  a  conquest  of  "  civilized 
man  over  uncivilized  nature ;"  an  addition  to  those 
resources  which  are  to  enable  his  country  to 
stretch  her  moral  empire  to  her  geographical  lim- 
its, and  lo  diffuse  over  a  vast  continent  the  phy- 
sical enjoyments,  the  social  advantages,  the  poli- 
tical privileges,  and  the  religious  institutions,  the 
extension  of  which  is  identified  with  all  his  visions 
of  her  future  greatness. 

As  we  descended  into  the  little  valley  in  which 
the  Mission  School  is  situated,  the  distant  moun- 
tains were  fading  from  our  view  ;  but  we  had  just 
daylight  enough  to  see  the  steeple  of  the  rhurrh> 


l!l  I 


:i 


and  the  very  tievv  houses  which  seemed  to  (com- 
pose this  little  village,  or  rather  this  little  detach- 
ed part  of  a  little  village.  The  snow  contributed 
to  prolong  our  twilight,  and  assisted  us  in  discern- 
ing about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before  we  reached 
the  school,  a  retired  buryirjg  ground,  with  many 
upright  slabs  of  white  marble,  over  which  the 
evening  star,  the  only  one  which  had  yet  appear- 
ed, seemed  to  be  shedding  its  mild  light.  Here, 
as  we  afterwards  learned,  lay  the  remains  of  the 
lamented  Henry  Obookiah,  a  pupil  of  peculiar 
promise,  from  the  Sandwich  Islands.  His  compa- 
nions, Hopoo,  Teimooe,  and  Honooree,  returned 
some  months  since  to  their  native  island  with  the 
mission  which  was  sent  thither.  Tamoree.  King 
of  Atooi,  in  a  letter  to  his  son  at  Cornwall,  had 
expressed  himself  very  desirous  that  missionaries 
should  be  provided,  and  great  expectations  are 
excited  of  the  success  of  the  mission. 

Being  informed  that  a  Mr. though  not 

keeping  a  regular  inn,  sometimes  received  those 
who  visited  the  school,  I  applied  to  him  in  prefer- 
ence to  taking  up  my  quarters  at  a  very  uninvit- 
ing tavern.  We  soon  obtained  admittance  into  a 
neat  little  chamber,  where  I  sat  up  till  a  late  hour, 
indulging  the  very  interesting  reflections  natural- 
ly excited  by  my  situation,  in  a  deep  retired  ro- 
mantic valley,  where  so  many  heathen  youths 
were  collected  from  different  parts  of  the  world 
to  be  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  qualified  as  far  as  human  effort  could 
qualify  them,  to  diffuse  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
over  the    benighted    lands   of  their  nativity,     f 


'% 


it  >■•- 


24  ;> 


to  <!0!n- 
3etach- 
ributed 
liscern- 
eached 
h  many 
ich  the 
appear- 
Here, 
s  of  the 
peculiar 
compa- 
etiirned 
with  the 
e.  King 
rail,  had 
ionaries 
ions  are 

lugh  not 
those 

prefer- 
uninvit- 
e  into  a 
te  hour, 
natural- 
ired  ro- 

youths 
e  world 

iristian 
rt  could 

Gospel 

vitv.     f 


ihonglit  ot  the  nights  which  1  passed  at  the  mis- 
sionary settlements  of  Elliot  and  Brainerd,  in  the 
southern  forest,  where  I  heard  this  school  men- 
tioned with  deep  interest.  Indeed  some  of  the 
Indian  children  at  those  distant  settlements  had 
brothers  or  sisters  here,  with  whom  they  main-, 
tained  a  constant  and  affectionate  correspon- 
dence. I  saw  some  of  their  letters,  written  with 
great  feeling  and  simplicity,  in  which  they  were 
encouraging  each  other  in  their  Christian  course, 
and  dwelling  on  the  importance  of  improving  their 
present  advantages,  in  order  to  be  prepared  to 
become  blessings  to  their  native  tribes,  by  intro- 
ducing civilization  and  Christianity  among  those 
sons  of  the  forest. 

1  rose  early,  and  at  six  o'clock,  when  the  bell 
rang,  went  to  the  school  to  prayers.  A  chapter 
in  the  New  Testament  was  Hrst  read,  each  pupil, 
or  rather  several  of  them,  taking  a  verse  in  suc- 
cession ;  afterwards,  David  Brown,  the  Brother 
of  Catherine  Brown,  a  Cherokee,  whose  name  you 
often  see  in  the  Missionary  Reports,  led  the  de- 
votions of  the  assembly  by  an  appropriate  pray- 
er: they  then  all  dispersed  to  their  own  rooms. 

1  have  obtaif»ed  a  list  of  their  native  names  for 
vou :  but  in  the  mean  time  must  tell  you  that  there 
were,  among  others,  one  Malay,  one  Otaheitan, 
two  Mowhees,  two  Owyhees.  one  New  Zealander. 
eight  Cherokee  Indians,  two  Chortaws,  three 
Mich-he-con-nuks,  one  Oneida,  one  Tuscarora. 
and  two  Coughnewagas.  I'hree  of  them,  Awik 
(David  Brown)  a  Cherokee,  Kal-le-ga-nah  ^Elias 
Boudinot")  a  Cliorokee.  and  frepo-ah.  an  Owhyhee. 


r-' 


..i 


24(i 


h 


/ 


afterwards  paid  me  a  visit  in  my  room,  and  sat 
with  me  half  an  hour.  They  could  all  speak  Eng- 
lish, and  Irepo-ah  told  me  he  had  seen  my  country, 
having  lain  a  week  off'  the  Isle  of  Wight,  in  the 
ressel  in  which  he  was  carried  to  China  and  Am- 
sterdam on  his  way  hither.  The  principal  of  the 
school  told  me  that  Kal-le-ga-nahhad  gone  through 
a  course  of  history,  geography,  and  surveying,  had 
read  some  books  of  Virgil,  and  was  then  engaged 
in  studying  Enfield's  philosophy ;  over  which,  in- 
deed, I  afterwards  found  him  when  I  visited  the 
school,  f  also  saw  his  trigonometrical  copy- 
books. I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Dagget,  the  principal,  who  is  devoting  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  to  the  school.  He  called  on  me 
at  eight  o'clock,  and  I  afterwards  found  him  at  the 
school,  where  I  heard  some  of  the  pupils  exam- 
ined. He  shewed  me  a  large  sheet  of  paper,  on 
which  were  written  the  names  of  twenty  or  thirty 
common  objects  in  English,  and  opposite  to  them 
the  corresponding  names  in  the  different  lan- 
guages of  all  the  pupils  who  had  ever  been  in 
school.  On  coming  away,  he  gave  me  a  copy  of 
the  1 9th  Psalm  in  the  language  of  the  Muh-he- 
con-nuk,  or  Stockbridge  tribe  of  Indians. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  a  more  inter- 
esting sight  than  was  presented  by  this  school; 
and  you  will  anticipate  my  reflections  on  bidding 
it  a  final  adieu.  It  was  opened  in  the  spring  of 
1817,  and  the  following  is  the  object  stated  in  the 
constitution  : — "  The  education  in  America  of 
heathen  youth,  in  such  manner  as,  with  subse- 
quent professional  instructions,  will  cjuality  them 


isi^,s::s:s^f 


•Ml 


ind  sat 
k  Eng- 
ountry, 

in  the 
id  Am- 
l  of  the 
hrough 
ng,  had 
ngaged 
ich,  in- 
ed   the 

copy- 
le  Rev. 
the  re- 
1  on  me 
n  at  the 
I  exam- 
per,  on 
r  thirty 

0  them 
nt  Ian- 
been  in 
3opy  of 
luh-he- 

e  inter- 
school  ; 
bidding 
>ring  of 

1  in  the 
trica  of 

subse- 
y  them 


to  l»ecoine  useful  missionaries,  physicians,  school- 
masters, or  interpreters,  and  to  communicate  to 
the  heathen  nations  such  knowledge  in  agricul- 
ture and  the  arts,  as  may  prove  the  means  of  pro- 
moting Christianity  and  civilization/'  Is  not  this 
a  truly  noble  object  ? 

My  hostess  was  the  grand-daughter  of  the 
former  pastor  of  the  village.  Her  eldest  daugh- 
ter, a  pleasing  yourjg  person  of  a  serious  dispo- 
sition, seemed  much  interested  with  Mr.  Leigh 
Richmond's  "  Little  Jane,"  which  1  left  with  her. 
It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  read  it  in  this  lit- 
tle valley,  with  all  the  associations  with  which  it 
seemed  so  well  to  harmonize.  We  left  Cornwall 
at  ten  o'clock,  on  the  3d,  in  an  open  sleigh.  Our 
road,  for  three  or  four  miles,  lay  through  a  natural 
grove  of  hemlock,  spruce,  and  cedar,  which  made 
an  arch  over  our  heads,  and  whose  matted  boughs 
and  dark  green  leaves,  formed  a  fine  contrast  with 
the  new  fallen  snow  which  rested  upon  them  in 
masses,  or  fell  through,  and  gave  a  softer  appear- 
ance to  the  frozen  surface  over  which  we  travel- 
led. A  rapid  brook,  which  we  sometimes  heard 
below  dashing  over  the  rocks,  and  to  the  brink  of 
which  the  road  occasionally  descended,  improved 
the  scene. 

Soon  after  crossing  the  Housatonic,  we  ascended 
a  mountain,  from  which  we  took  our  last  view  of 
this  consecrated  spot,  whose  scenery,  1  reflected, 
would  be  carried  to  almost  every  part  of  the  world, 
in  the  breasts  of  the  young  missionaries,  associat- 
ed in  many  instances  with  interesting  recollec- 
tions of  early  piety,  and  of  vows  which,  made  in 


.-2sr 


21 }{ 


■h- 


>     .1 


l\' 


'I      1 


f.     I 


tlie  first  tipivoiir  of  tlieir  ilevotioii  lo  the  sacrcJ 
cause,  would  often  be  recalled  in  far  distant  scenes, 
to  sustain  their  fainting  spirits,  or  re-animate  their 
slackened  efforts,  in  the  meridian  or  evening  o\' 
I  heir  days. 

When  we  descended  the  mountain  on  the  other 
side,  we  were  gratified  by  a  long  succession  of 
scenery  which  reminded  me  more  of  the  high  moor- 
lands of  our  own  country  than  any  thing  we  had 
lately  seen.  The  little  valleys  which  lay  between 
them  were  very  level  and  richly  cultivated,  and 
the  small  farm-houses  had  mure  oi"  the  cottage  and 
less  of  the  parlour  style  in  their  appearance  than 
is  usual  in  New-England — perhaps  1  ought  to  say, 
more  of  the  kitchen  style,  for  the  picturesque  cot- 
tage of  Old  England  is  seen  here  as  seldom  as  the 
miserable  hovel  or  crumbling  mud  cabin. 

Soon  after  passing  Sharon,  we  entered  the  state 
«r  New-York  ;  and  it  was  not  without  regret  that  I 
bade  adieu  to  New-England,  where  I  had  ibund 
so  much  to  please  and  to  interest  me. 

I  first  entered  New-England,  in  the  state  of  Ver- 
mont, which  I  crossed  in  the  autumn,  and  with 
which  1  was  much  delighted.  It  well  deserves  its 
name  ;  and  1  do  not  think  that  I  have  had  a  more 
inlpresting  ride  of  the  same  length  since  my  arri- 
val in  America,  except  perhaps  in  the  valley  of  the 
Shenandoah, — and  there  there  were  some  slaves  at 
least,  while  here  the  "Green  mountain  boys"  are 
as  free  and  independent  as  in  the  times  which 
Mrs.  Grant  describes,  and  perhaps  a  little  more 
enlightened.  We  found  schools  in  every  town- 
ship, and  there  are  various  colleges  in  i-he  State. 


Suii^!S-'ff^^^:i 


iXSss;;z3Stf 


24H 


sacrcul 

|.  scenes, 

te  their 

ening  ol' 

le  othor 
:ision  ol' 
h  inoor- 
we  had 
)etweei» 
ed,  and 
age  and 
ce  than 
to  say, 
ue  cot- 
1  as  the 

le  state 
;t  that  [ 
d  found 

of  Ver- 
id  with 
rves  its 
a  more 
ny  arri- 
y  of  the 
aves  at 
ys"  are 

which 
e  more 

town- 
'  .State. 


'i> 


The  attention  of  the  clergy  to  their  duties  is  most 
exemplary,  and  non-residence  is  said  not  to  be  knoum 
among  them.  I  scarcely  saw  an  inn  without  a  Bi- 
ble in  the  parlour;  and  I  several  times  found  a 
volume  of  Scott's  Bible  in  my  bed-chamber.  At 
one  place  where  we  changed  horses,  were  the  life 
of  Harriot  Newell,  (a  present  from  the  minister  to 
the  innkeeper's  daughter,)  Whitfield's  Sermon's, 
Young's  Night  Thoughts,  &c. ;  and  at  another 
Walter  Scott,  the  Pastor's  Fire-side,  Blair's  Lec- 
tures, Paley's  Philosophy,  Darwin's  Botanic  Gar- 
den, French  Grammar,  and  some  others, — and  this 
in  one  room  in  a  country  inn.  The  face  of  the 
country  sometimes  reminded  me  of  the  richest 
meadow  land  in  Craven,  sometimes  of  the  most 
romantic  part  of  Derbyshire,  and  very  often  of  a 
valley  to  us  more  dear  and  beautiful  than  can  be 
found  in  either.  The  houses,  either  when  group- 
ed in  villages  or  standing  alone,  are  clean  white 
frame  houses  with  Venetian  blinds.  The  churches 
are  of  white  frame  also,  with  lofty  spires ;  simple, 
pretty,  and,  better  than  all,  very  numerous.  I  re- 
member as  we  crossed  the  Connecticut  river,whic!t 
there  divides  the  states  of  Vermont  and  New- 
Hampshire,  I  asked  the  driver,  a  young  man  of 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  whether  we  should 
find  the  New-Hampshire  people  as  civil  as  the 
"  green  mountain  boys  ?"  He  said, — "  No ;  you 
will  not  find  them  quite  as  civil,  and  certainly  not 
so  enlightened  :  as  their  land  is  so  poor  in  general, 
that  they  have  not  the  same  opportunities  of  im- 
provement, although  there  are  schools  in  every 
district,  and  everv  one  can  read-"     Indeed,  the 


tl 


•.^2 


I  ; 


:ii5o 


I     I 


number  of  schools  which  you  observe  as  you  pass 
along  the  roads  in  New-England,  and  the  neat  ap- 
pearance and  respectable  civil  manners  of  the 
children  going  or  returning  with  their  little  books 
under  their  arms,  are  very  pleasing. 

Mr.  Webster  was  quite  correct  in  his  remark  on 
this  subject,  in  his  eloquent  oration  at  the  second 
centenary  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  on 
the  Plymouth  Rock.  "  Although,"  said  he,  "  the 
representatives  of  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  listened  to  a  gentleman  of  distinguish- 
ed character  (Mr.  Brougham)  with  astonishment 
and  delight,  when  detailing  his  plan  of  national 
education,  we  hear  no  principles  with  which  we 
ourselves  have  not  been  familiar  from  youth :  we 
see  nothing  in  the  plan  but  an  approach  to  that 
system  which  has  been  established  in  New-Eng- 
land for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half.  It  is  said, 
that  in  England  not  more  than  one  child  in  fifteen 
possesses  the  means  of  being  taught  to  read  and 
write:  in  Wales,  one  in  twenty;  in  France,  until 
lately,  when  some  improvement  was  made,  not 
more  than  one  in  thirty-five.  Now  it  is  hardly  too 
strong  to  say  that  in  New-England  every  child  pos- 
sesses such  means.  That  which  is  elsewhere  left 
to  chance  or  charity,  we  secure  by  law.  For  the 
purpose  of  public  instruction,  we  hold  every  man 
subject  to  taxation  in  proportion  to  his  property ; 
and  we  look  not  to  the  question  whether  he  him- 
self have  or  have  not  children  to  be  benefited  by 
the  education  for  which  he  pays.  We  regard  it 
as  a  wise  and  liberal  system  of  policy,  by  which 
property,  and  life,  and  the  peace  of  society  are  se- 


4 


if)ki-i 


ii/il 


DU  pasb 
leat  ap- 
of  the 
e  books 

nark  on 
second 
lerson 
"the 
Britain 
nguish- 
shment 
lational 
lich  we 
th:  wc 
to  that 
w-Eng- 
issaid, 
1  fifteen 
ad  and 
e,  until 
ie,   not 
d\y  too 
ild  pos- 
3re  left 
or  the 
ry  man 
perty; 
e  him- 
ted  by 
^ard  it 
which 
ire  se- 


cured.    VVc  seek  to  prevent  in  some  measure  the 
extension  of  the  penal  code,  by  inspiring  a  saluta- 
ry and  conservative  principle  of  virtue  and  of 
knowledge  at  an  early  age.     We  hope  for  a  securi- 
ty beyond  the  law,  and  above  the  law,  in  the  pre- 
valence of  enlightened  and  well-principled  moral 
sentiment.     We  hope  to  continue  and  prolong  the 
time  when  in  the  villages  or  farm-houses  of  New- 
England  there  may  be  undisturbed  sleep  within 
unbarred  doors.     And  knowing  that  our  govern- 
ment rests  directly  in  the  public  will,  that  we  may 
preserve  it,  we  endeavour  to  give  a  safe  and  pro- 
per direction  to  that  public  will."     All  this  is  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  peculiar  character  of  the  first 
settlers  of  New-England.     It  has  been  well  ob- 
served, "The  scattered  settlements    along  the 
shores  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  which 
in  the  map  of  the  now  extensive  empire  of  Ameri- 
ca can  hardly  be  made  visible,  were  not  inhabit- 
ed, as  is  often  the  case  in  a  new  colony,  by  men 
of  forlorn  prospects  and  ruined  character,  or  by 
desperate  expelled  outcasts,  but  by  gentlemen  and 
yeomen  of  England,  who,  in  a  period  of  stern  re- 
ligious dissent,  went  into  a  voluntary  distant  exile 
to  preserve  what  they  considered  the  truth.  These 
men,  who  had  been  bred  in  the  antique  cloisters  of 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  united  all  the  learning  of 
the  schools  to  the  piety  and  zeal  of  confessors  and 
martyrs."     "  Poetry,"  says  Mr.  Webster, "has  fan- 
cied nothing  in  the  wandering  of  heroes  so  distinct 
and  characteristic.     Here  was  man,  unprotected 
indeed,  and  unprovided  for  on  the  shore  of  a  rude 
and  fearful  wilderness :  but  it  was  politic,  intelli- 


iH 


f  I 


■»    11 


U'l       » 


.» .-,.1 


^tuU  and  educated  man.  Kvery  thing  was  civiliz- 
ed but  the  physical  world.  Institutions,  contain- 
ing, in  substance,  all  that  ages  had  done  for  hu- 
man government,  were  established  in  a  forest. 
Cultivated  mind  was  made  to  act  on  uncultivated 
nature ;  and,  more  than  all,  a  government  and  a 
country  were  to  commence  with  the  very  first  foun- 
dation laid  under  the  divine  light  of  the  Christian 
Religion."  ?« •  « 

To  the  superior  advantages  of  education  trans- 
mitted by  their  learned  for;:.fathers  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Eastern  States,  ns  well  as  to  the  po- 
verty of  their  soil,  is  to  be  ascribed  that  spirit  of 
emigration  which  has  rendered  New-England  the 
officina  gentium  of  North  America.  You  remember 
how  beautifully  the  connexion  between  superior 
intelligence  in  the  population  of  a  comparatively 
poor  country  and  a  spirit  of  adventure  and  emi- 
gration are  portrayed  by  Dr.  Currie,  in  his  re- 
marks on  the  Scottish  peasants.  But  to  return  to 
my  narrative — 

A  little  circumstance  which  I  will  mention,  will 
show  you  the  difference  between  the  state  of  man- 
ners in  Connecticut  and  that  part  of  the  State  of 
New-York  on  which  we  had  just  entered.  The 
snow  had  so  far  disappeared  from  many  parts  of 
the  road  that,  after  tugging  along  in  the  mud,  and 
availing  ourselves  of  every  little  patch  of  snow  on 
the  road  side,  we  were  obliged  to  part  with  our 
sleigh  and  obtain  a  waggon.  While  they  were  pre- 
paring this  little  vehicle,  1  went  into  the  house  of 
the  person  who  undertook  to  convey  us ;  and,  in 
speaking  about  his  coming  home  the  same  night. 


i'-^  ^.  if  -ji.^ 


•^1^. 


20.* 


(it  was  Saturday,)  or  making  an  allowance  tor  hiu 
staying  at  Poughkeepsie  the  following  tlay,  his 
wife  said,  ^*  Oh,  people  donH  think  so  much  about 
the  Sabbath  here.  In  Connecticut  they  take  any 
body  up  that  travels  on  Sunday ;  but  here  weVe 
in  a  loose  township,whcre  people  think  little  about 
religion — I  was  not  brought  up  so."  Now  in  that 
part  of  Connecticut  where  1  hired  the  sleigh  it  was 
considered  quite  a  matter  of  course  "  to  tarry  on 
the  Sabbath,"  as  they  termed  it,  and  to  include  it. 
in  their  calculation  of  expenses. 

The  owner  and  driver  of  the  Jersey  waggon  was 
of  German  extraction,  though  a  "  native  born'''  Ame- 
rican, and  was  very  conversible.     He  told  me  that 
his  father  and  his  brother  had  remained  in  Upper 
Canada,  where  they  found  the  land  excellent,  and 
that   he  would  go   there  too,  but  his  »*  woman^s 
father"  was  loth  to  lose   his  daughter;  that  he 
resigned  a  commission  he  held  in  the   American 
army  during  the  late  war,  on  finding  his  company 
ordered  to  the  Canadian  frontiers,  as  it  seemed 
unnatural  to  fight  against  his  neighbours,  and  stilt 
more  against  his  own  kin.     We   stopped  towards 
night  to  feed  our  horses  at  a  place  called  Pleasant 
Valley,  where  there  was  a  larger  circle  than  usual 
sitting  round  the  fire,  and  fewer  persons  standing 
about  the  bar,  which  I  attributed  to  our  being  in  a 
German  neighbourhood.  They  were  talking  about 
"  a  caucus"  which  had  been  held,  or  was  going  to 
be  held,  for  the  appointment  of  some  petty  officer. 
I  will  explain  this  proceeding  toyou  wlien  we  meet. 
We  have  long  been  familiar  with  it,  as  a  prelimi- 
nary movement  in  the  election  of  president;  but  1 


254 


J 


was  not  aware  when  I  left  England  that  it  extend- 
ed to  the  election  of  very  subordinate  officers.  It 
was  starlight  for  two  hours  before  we  reached 
Poughkeepsie,  where  i  met  with  a  very  frigid  re- 
ception from  a  very  surly  landlord,  who  seemed  to 
suppose  he  was  conferring  a  favour  by  allowing 
one  to  cross  his  threshold.  I  obtained  a  comfort- 
able little  room  however,  and  saw  my  frosty  friend 
only  once  while  I  staid.  I  rose  early  next  morn- 
ing, and  found,  to  my  satisfaction,  that  my  window 
looked  over  the  noble  Hudson  to  the  high  land  on 
the  opposite  side ;  and,  on  going  out,  I  found  my- 
self, as  I  expected,  in  sight  of  some  of  the  finest 
mountains  in  North  America.  These  are  the  Cats- 
kill,  the  fine  northern  range,  in  which  the  Allegha- 
ny and  the  Blue  Mountains  terminate :  they  are 
the  most  picturesque  range  that  I  have  seen  in 
America  (except,  perhaps,  one  range  in  Virginia, 
from  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  and  I  do  not 
know  that  I  ought  to  except  that.)  Their  round- 
ed summits  and  towering  peaks  give  them  a  strong 
resemblance  to  our  mountain  scenery,  and  form  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  unbroken  continuity  and 
horizontal  outline  of  the  American  mountains  ge- 
nerally, and  especially  of  the  Alleghany.  They 
are  not  higher  than  the  fine  range  of  the  Lake 
Mountains  which  we  see  from  Lancaster  Castle, 
nor,  I  think,  either  more  beautiful  or  sublime ;  but 
it  is  difficult  to  compare  objects,  where  the  one  is 
present  to  the  eye,  the  other  only  to  the  imagina- 
tion. It  was  a  very  fine  morning,  and  the  sun 
threw  a  rich  red  tinge  over  their  snowy  sides  when 
he  rose.    To  the  south«  the  Fishkill  Mountains, 


25j 


which  are  also  very  remarkable  ones,  were  dis- 
tinctly visible,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  this  fine  scene- 
ry— by  many  persons  considered  the  finest  in 
North  America — I  had  arranged  to  pass  my  last 
Sabbath  on  these  western  shores.  To  how  many 
interesting  reflections,  prospective  and  retrospec- 
tive, that  single  consideration  gave  rise,  I  must 
leave  you  to  imagine. 

In  the  Episcopal  Church,  a  little  plain  building, 
we  had  a  good  sermon  from  the  words,  '^  All  things 
are  yours,"  &c.,  and  in  the  afternoon  in  the  Bap- 
tists^ Meeting  on  a  kindred  subject  from  the  text, 
'•*■  All  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God,  that  are  the  called  according  to  his  pur- 
pose." 

We  had  a  glorious  sun-set,  and  as  the  sun  went 
down  I  appeared  to  take  leave  of  America ;  for  I 
anticipated  little  time  either  to  think  or  feel  during 
the  ensuifig  week  of  preparation. 


/ 


JVew-Yorkt  March  Ith. 

We  left  Poughkeepsie  at  four  o'clock  the  next 
morning  in  the  stage.  This  is  principally  a  Dutch 
town,  as  is  very  evident  in  the  structure  of  the 
buildings  and  the  construction  of  the  men  and  wo- 
men; the  former  of  smaller,  the  latter  of  ampler, 
dimensions  than  are  common  in  America.  The 
ride  to  New-York,  80  miles,  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  in  this  country.  In  the  space  cf  20  miles, 
through  and  over  what  are  called  the  Highlands, 
or  the  Fishkili  Mountains,  I  saw  more  of  nature's 
ruins  than  in  my  whole  \ik  before : 


— ,*. 


tmti^«mSmmmSim 


i 

III 


It  '  (■ 


//' 


',■ 


2c>t) 


Rucks,  iuoumUs,  and  knolls,  cunfiisttdly  iiurl'd, 
The  fragments  uf  an  earlier  world. 

Many  of  the  smaller  defiles  resembled  the  Troa- 
sacks,  but  were  far  wilder.  [  will,  however,  at- 
tempt no  description.  I  will  only  say  that  for  two 
days  1  was  revelling  in  magnificent  scenery,  and 
adding  largely  to  those  chambers  of  imagery  from 
which  I  hope  during  life  to  be  able  to  summon  at 
pleasure  the  most  sublime  and  beautiful  forms  of 
nature. 

I  had  a  very  fine  view  of  the  passage  which  the 
Hudson  has  forced  for  itself  through  the  Fishkill 
mountains,  as  the  Potomac  and  Shenandoah 
through  the  Blue  Mountains  in  Virginia.  We  were 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  Hudson  during  a 
great  part  of  the  day ;  frequently  on  its  banks ; 
and  as  the  day  was  bright,  and  I  sat  by  the  coach- 
man till  it  was  dark,  I  saw  the  country  to  great  ad- 
vantage. I  had  before  sailed  through  the  High- 
lands by  moonlight,  on  my  way  to  Canada.  We 
reached  New- York  after  midnight  (this  morning;) 
and  1  am  now  writing  my  last  letter  to  England  in 
the  house  where  I  slept  the  night  we  landed,  six- 
teen months  since.  I  can  hardly  believe  that  only 
sixteen  months  have  elapsed  since  I  first  hailed 

"These  lands  heneath  Hesperian  skies, 
Where  daylight  sojourns  till  our  morrow  rise." 

Every  week  indeed  has  glided  rapidly  away ;  but 
the  new  sources  of  interest  which  have  opened  to 
me  on  every  side,  and  the  various  scenes  through 
which  I  have  passed,  have  given  to  the  intervening 
period  an  apparent  extension  far  beyond  its  real 
limits.     In  liUlo  more  than  a  vear  I  have  visited 


2;i7 


•  Tros- 
er,  at- 
for  two 
y,  and 
•y  from 
moti  at 
•rms  of 

ich  the 
^ishkill 
oiiidoah 
e  were 
iring  a 
banks ; 
coach- 
eat  ad- 
;  High- 
i.  We 
rning ;) 
land  in 
ed,  six.- 
at  only 
liled 


y;  but 
ned  to 
hrough 
vening 
its  real 
visited 


Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  and  traversed  the  Unit- 
ed States  from  their  nordiern  to  their  southern  ex- 
tremity, comprehending  in  ray  route  the  States  of 
Maine,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode-Island, 
Connecticut,  New-York,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and 
Tennessee,  i  have  crossed  the  Alleghany  in  Ten- 
nessee, the  BJue  Ridge  in  Virginia,  and  the  Green 
Mountains  in  Vermont.  I  have  sailed  on  those  in- 
land seas,  and  traversed  those  boundless  forests, 
which  are  associated  with  our  earliest  conceptions 
of  this  Western  world.  I  have  seen  the  St.  Law- 
rence precipitate  its  nighty  torrent  down  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  reflect  from  its  calm  expanse  the 
frowning  battlements  of  Quebec,  and  then  flow  ma- 
jestically to  the  wintry  shores  of  Labrador ;  and 
the  Mississippi,  rising  in  the  same  table  land  as 
the  St.  Lawrence,  rolling  its  turbid  waters  for  three 
thousand  miles  to  the  orange  groves  of  Louisiana, 
and,  at  last,  falling  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  under 
nearly  the  same  latitude  as  the  Nile.  I  have  con- 
versed with  the  polished  circles  of  the  Atlantic 
cities;  the  forlorn  emigrant  in  the  wilderness  ;  the 
Negro  on  the  plantation ;  and  .the  Indian  in  his  na- 
tive forest.  In  successive  intervals  oi' space  I  have 
traced  society  through  those  various  stages  which 
in  most  countries  are  exhibited  only  in  successive 
periods  oi  time :  I  have  seen  the  roving  hunter  ac- 
quiring the  habit  of  the  herdsman ;  the  pastoral 
state  merging  into  the  agricultural,  and  the  agri- 
cultural into  the  manufacturing  and  commercial.  I 
am  now  on  the  eve  of  embarking  for  the  old  world 


'*^  ■ 


h:-:      ^ 


'2r)H 


¥ 


iT 


1  . 


i 


Need  1  add  that  I  shall  return,  ill  am  spared,  with 
undiminished  affection  for  the  friends  I  left  behind; 
with  unshaken  fidelity  and  attachment  to  the  land 
of  my  nativity ;  and,  if  possible,  with  a  deeper 
sense  than  ever  of  the  glory  and  privilege  of  hav- 
ing been  born  "  o  British^^''  as  the  interpreter  of  my 
Indian  hunters  would  say  ?  Indeed,  you  need  ne- 
ver fear  that  my  country  will  have  too  few  attrac- 
tions for  me,  while  she  produces  so  many  male  and 
female  worthies.  Who  would  renounce  the  ho- 
nour of  being  compatriots  of  her  living  ornaments, 
to  say  nothing  of  her  long  line  of  illustrious  dead? 
But  even  her  woods,  her  rivers,  and  her  mountains 
have  not  lost  one  charm  by  comparison.  Our 
woods  and  rivers  will  appear  more  diminutive, 
perhaps,  than  before,  but  not  less  picturesque; 
and  Ingleborough  and  Lunesdale,  Coniston  Fells, 
and  our  Lake  scenery,  are  surpassed  by  nothing 
which  I  have  seen.  You  must  not  be  surprised, 
however,  if  i  feel  a  strong  emotion  on  bidding  a 
last  adieu  to  these  western  shores ;  to  a  country 
where  I  have  passed  many  happy  hours  :  where  I 
have  found  so  much  to  stimulate  and  gratify  curi- 
osity ;  and  where  I  have  experienced  a  degree  of 
attention  which  I  never  can  forget.  In  the  inter- 
est which  I  must  ever  feel  in  the  destinies  of  this 
favoured  land,  in  her  European,  her  African,  and 
her  Aboriginal  population,  I  seem  as  if  1  were  en- 
dowed with  a  new  sense.  I  see  in  the  Americans, 
a  nation  who  are  to  show  to  generations  yet  un- 
born, what  British  energy  can  accomplish  when 
unfettered  by  the  artificial  arrangements  of  less 
enlightened  times,  and  the  clumsy  irgchinery  of 


li.OM 


the  old  complicated  system  of  commercial  policy; 
when  combining  with  the  elastic  vigour  of*  reno- 
vated youth  the  experience  of  a  long  and  spirited 
career  of  prosperity  and  glory;  and  when  bringing 
to  the  boundless  regions  of  a  new  world,  fair  and 
fresh  from  the  hand  of  its  Creator,  the  intellectual 
treasures  which  have  been  accumulating  for  cen- 
turies in  the  old. 

It  is  in  this  light  that  I  wish  to  regard  America ; 
as  a  scion  from  the  old  British  oak — not  as  a  rival, 
whose  growing  greatness  is  to  excite  jealousy  and 
apprehension,  but  as  the  vigorous  child  of  an  illus- 
trious parent,  whose  future  glory  may  reflect  lus- 
tre on  the  distinguished  family  from  which  she 
sprang,  and  who  should  be  solicitous  to  prove  her- 
self worthy  of  her  high  descent.  May  her  future 
career  evince  both  her  title  and  her  sensibility  to 
her  hereditary  honours !  May  the  child  forget  the 
supposed  severity  of  the  parent,  and  the  parent 
the  alleged  obstinacy  of  the  child ;  and  while,  as 
two  independent  nations,  they  emulate  each  other 
in  glorious  deeds,  may  they  combine  th^r  com- 
manding influence  to  promote  the  lasting  interest 
of  the  human  race  ! 


» 


». 


,  I    tl 


APPENDIX. 

(■'roni  the  T/ondOD  Missionary  Hegistcr  fur  Nov.  and  Dec.   I0:;1. 

Journey  among  the  Creeks,  ChocktawSf  Chickasaws, 
nmf  Cherokees. 

In  our  last  survey  under  the  head  of  North  American  lii- 
fiians,  we  inerJioned  a  journey  whicli  had  been  taken  by  a 
friend,  among  these  Indians.  This  Gentleman  (Adam 
Hodgson,  Esq.  of  Liverpool,  Treasurer  of  the  West-Lan- 
cashire Association  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society^  fa- 
voured us,  a  considerable  time  since,  with  a  Narrative  of  his 
journey;  and  we  regret  that  our  limits,  which  we  find  in- 
creasingly inadequate  to  the  important  matter  that  presses 
on  us  from  all  quarters,  have  obliged  us  to  defer  so  long  an 
account  of  his  tour.  We  have  taken  the  liberty  of  giving 
that  authenticity  to  his  interesting  narrative,  which  will  at- 
tach to  ivfrom  the  insertion  of  his  name. 

Mr.  Hodgson  set  out  on  this  visit  to  the  Indians  on  the 
17th  of  March,  I8i0,  from  Augusta,  in  the  north-east  part 
of  Georgia,  bordering  on  South  Carolina.  He  travelled 
on  horseback  accompanied  only  by  a  servant ;  and  reached 
Mobile  in  Cast  Florida,  on  the  1 5th  day;  having  crossed 
the  state  of  Georgia  in  a  south-west  direction,  a  distance  of 
450  miles.  Taking  his  passage  at  Mobile  on  board  a 
schooner  for  New-Orleans,  he  arrived  at  that  city  on  the 
7th  of  April ;  and  proceeded  thence  up  the  Mississippi,  in  a 
steam-boat  to  Natchez.  On  the  10th  of  May,  he  left 
Natche?.,  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  his  servant,  with 
the  intention  of  proceeding  through  the  Wilderness,  as  it  is 
termed — that  is,  the  western  and  northern  parts  of  Georgia 


:«tC         '' 


iHl 


aws, 

lean  I  li- 
en by  11 

(Adam 
Bst-Lan- 
iety)  fa- 
ve  of  his 
■  find  in- 
t  prpsses 

long  an 
)f  giving 
I  will  at- 

on  the 
east  part 
travelled 

reached 

crossed 

stance  of 

board  a 

y  on  the 

ppi,  in  a 

he  left 

ant,  with 

s,  as  it  is 

Georgia 


and  the  state  of  Tennessee— to  Richmond,  in  V'irginia,  a 
distance  of  about  1240  miles.  In  this  ronte  he  passed 
through  the  Choctaw,  Chickasaw,  and  Cherokee  Nations; 
and  visited  the  Missionary  Settlement  of  £lliot  among  the 
Choctaws,  and  that  of  Brainerd  among  the  Cherokees. 
Soon  after  leaving  Brainerd,  Mr.  Hodgson  crossed  the 
Tennessee,  which  there  forms  the  boundary  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation :  quitting  here  the  Indian  Territory,  he  crossed  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  and  reached  Monticello,  the  seat  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  late  President  of  the  United  States.  On  the 
20th  of  June  he  arrived  at  Richmond,  the  horses  having 
accomplished  the  1240  miles  from  Natchez,  in  six  weeks, 
wl;!.out  difficulty. 

We  extract  Mr.  Hodgson's  account  of  his  reception  at 
Monticello,  and  the  reflections  there  made  by  him  on  the 
journey  which  he  had  just  accomplished  : — 

Monticello,  the  well-known  seat  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  is  finely 
situated  on  an  eminence  which  commands  a  magnificent 
prospect.  Here  I  experienced  a  very  polite  and  hospitable 
reception,  from  this  retired  and  philosophic  Statesman ; 
whose  urbanity  and  intelligence  can  scarcely  fail  to  make 
a  favourable  impression  on  a  stranger.  While  conversing 
with  him  in  a  handsome  saloon,  surrounded  by  instruments 
of  science,  valuable  specimens  of  the  fine  arts,  and  literary 
treasures  of  every  nation  and  every  age,  I  could  not  help 
contrasting  my  situation  with  some  of  those  which  I  had 
occupied  a  few  weeks  before,  when  taking  my  cup  of  coffee 
with  a  Chickasaw  or  Choctaw  host,  or  dandling  on  my 
knee  a  little  Imiian  Chieftain  in  his  national  costume. 

In  less  than  five  weeks,  I  had  passed  from  the  recesses  of 
thick  forests,  whose  silence  had  never  been  broken  by  the 
woodman's  axe^  to  a  richly  cultivated  country,  where  cattle 
were  grazing  in  extensive  meadows,  and  corn-fields  waving 
in  the  wind;  where  Q'ommerce  was  planting  her  Towns, 
Science  founding  her  Universities,  and  Religion  rearing 
her  Heaven-directed  Spires.  In  the  same  space,  I  had 
traced  man  through  every  stage  of  society  ;  from  the 
hunter,  whose  ideas  were  bounded  by  the  narrow  circle  of 
his  daily  wants,  to  the  philosophic  statesman,  who  had 
learned  to  grasp  the  complicated  interests  of  society,  and 
nenetrate  tlm  mvsteriojis  sv'tPin  of  the  universe. 


H^' 


\ , 


Jt>2 


We  subjoin,  with  pleasure,  Mr.  Hodgson's  remarks, 
made  in  the  course  of  this  and  other  journeys,  on  the  cha- 
racter of  the  American  people;  as  we  trust  that  they  will 
contribute  to  the  increase  of  friendly  feelings  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic  : — 

Although,  in  this  narrative  I  have  confined  myself  almost 
entirely  to  an  acccount  of  my  route  through  the  Indian 
Nations,  I  cannot  conclude  without  expressing  my  deep 
regret  at  the  erroneous  ideas  which  prevail  in  England  on 
the  subject  of  America  generally. 

With  a  decided  preference  to  the  manners  and  institu- 
tions and  form  of  government  of  my  own  country  (h  pre- 
ference only  confirmed  by  opportunities  of  comparison,)  it 
has  been  impossible  to  avoid  perceiving,  that  those  ideas 
are  in  many  respects  as  unjtut  to  the  United  States,  as  they 
are  discreditable  to  Great  Britain.  To  what  cause  we  are 
to  attribute  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  my  enlightened 
and  generous  country  on  almost  every  topic  connected  with 
America,  it  is  foreign  to  my  purpose  to  inquire.  The  sub- 
ject is  a  very  interesting  one ;  but  it  would  lead  to  a  discus- 
sion for  which  I  have  neither  abilities  nor  leisure. 

I  should,  however,  do  great  injustice  to  my  own  feelings, 
if  I  did  not  state,  that,  in  the  course  of  a  journey  of  be- 
tween 5000  and  6000  miles,  in  which  I  passed  through  the 
States  of  Vermont,  INew-Hampshire,  Massachusetts.  New- 
York,  New-Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Tennessee,  and  mixed  rather  ex- 
tensively with  society,  I  received  impressions  of  America 
and  its  inhabitants,  very  different  from  those  which  prevail 
among  a  large  portion  of  my  countrymen,  or  which  are  to 
be  derived  from  our  books  of  Travels  or  Reviews. 

I  appeal,  therefore,  to  the  candour  of  my  countrymen, 
whether,  if  those  representations  were  true,  which  in  many 
cases  are  most  erroneous,  the  tone  and  temper  with  which 
the  subject  of  America  is  sometimes  discussed  among  us, 
are  either  courteous  or  liberal — whether  Ihey  are  calculated 
to  elicit  or  o!)scure  the  truth,  to  extinguish  or  inflame  ani- 
mosity— whether  they  are  becoming  the  dignity  and  mag- 
nanimity of  Great  Britain — whether  they  are  consistent 
with  Christian  Principle!? — and  whether  in  their  result, 
they  are  likely  to  confirm  or  to  invalidate  that  combination 
of  the  benevolent  efforts  of  the  two  countries,  so  favoura- 
ble to  the  cansp  of  Humanity  and  Roliffion  '' 


J«i3 


remarks, 
the  cha- 
they  will 
loth  sides 

?lf  almost 
le  Indian 
my  deep 
igland  on 

cl  institu- 
y  (h  pre- 
irison,)  it 
ose  ideas 
s,  as  they 
se  we  are 
lightened 
rcted  with 
The  sub- 
a  discus- 

I  feelings, 
ley  of  be- 
rough  the 
itts.  New- 
llaryland, 
Alabama, 
rather  ex- 
America 
ch  prevail 
lich  are  to 

untrymen, 
1  in  many 
i^ith  which 
among  us, 
calculated 
flame  ani- 
and  mag- 
consistent 
eir  result, 
mbinatioii 
»  favoiira- 


It  is  witli  reluctance  that  we  omit  any  part  ol"  Mr.  Hodg- 
son's Narrative ;  but  our  limits  oblige  us  to  abridge  it  in  a 
few  places. 

In  the  present  Number  we  shall  »?ive  his  a(  count  of  the 
Creeks  :  that  of  the  Chortaws.  Chickasaws,  and  Cherokees, 
will  be  reserved  for  the  next  Nun  her. 

Creek  Indians. 

In  his  journey  across  Georgia,  from  Augusta  to  Mobile, 
Mr.  Hodgson  passed  through  the  territory  of  the  Creek  In- 
dians, in  the  central  parts  of  that  State.  On  crossing  the 
River  Ockmulgee,  he  entered  the  Nation,  and  proceeded 
forward  to  the  ''  Agency,''  or  residence  of  the  person  who 
acts  as  Agent  between  the  United  States  and  the  Indians  of 
Georgia,  which  lies  on  the  Flint  River.  Pine  forests  of 
many  miles  extent  lie  in  the  way,  and  stretch  to  the  horizon 
on  every  side.  Of  the  state  of  the  people,  and  of  the  scen- 
ery, our  readers  will  find  a  very  interesting  description. 

Cabins  are  placed  throughout  the  Creek  Nation,  at  dis- 
tances of  about  thirty  miles,  for  the  convenience  of  travel- 
lers. Of  the  first  of  these  which  he  met  with,  Mr.  Hodgson 
says . — 

As  we  approached  it.  we  saw  some  Indians  in  their  wig. 
warns  on  the  road-side.  One  was  lying  asleep  before  the 
door,  his  head  covered  with  a  blanket ;  and  when  I  pointed 
to  him,  a  woman,  who  was  sitting  over  him,  said,  "  Whis- 
key sick — Whiskey  sirk."  Some  had  brought  their  little 
parcels  of  Indian  corn  from  an  Indian  town  about  eight 
miles  distant,  nnd  were  selling  it  to  the  people  of  the  inn. 
The  young  men  were  shooting  at  small  birds  with  their 
bows  and  arrows  ;  and  the  little  children  who  appeared  very 
active,  were  trying  to  walk  on  their  hands,  as  the  children 
in  England  occasionally  do. 

The  Maitre  d''Hotel  of  our  little  cabin,  was  a  white  man, 
the  partner  of  an  Indian  Chief; — the  Creek  Indians  allow- 
ing no  white  person  to  settle  in  their  nation,  except  as  their 
partners,  as  husbands  of  Indian  women,  or  as,  in  some 
way  or  other,  closely  connected  with  themselves.  He  gave 
us  some  coffee,  and  Indian-corn  bread,  and  bacon  ;  a  plain 
substantial  fare,  which  you  seldom  fail  to  obtain,  through- 
out the  nation,  sometimes  improved  by  the  addition  of  su- 


V, 


m   f 


^|pif— 


JH-4 


hh 


'I  \ 


11 


^itr  aiiri  cream  and  biilter,  and  soinetiniost  varied  by  llie  iii- 
itoductioti  ofwild  venison,  ur  wild  turkeys. 

As  we  purposed  sleeping  in  llie  woods  that  night,  there 
being  no  cubin  within  a  convenient  diaiance,  we  had  here 
to  lay  in  provision  for  our  horses.  At  (bur  o'clock,  we  set 
out — my  servant  carrying  a  handkerchief  full  of  Indian- 
corn  leaves,  the  substitute  for  hay  in  this  country,  being 
tied  behind  nie  on  my  horse,  half  as  high  as  my  shoulders. 
On  the  banks  of  several  streams,  we  saw  parties  of  In- 
dians, who  had  settled  themselves  there  for  a  few  days,  to 
assist  travellers  in  swimming  their  horses ;  but,  as  tlie  wa- 
ters had  subsided,  we  did  not  require  their  assistance.  Their 
rude  dwellings  were  formed  of  four  upright  saplings,  and  a 
rough  covering  of  pine-bark,  which  they  strip  from  the  trees 
with  a  neatness  and  rapidity  wliich  we  could  not  imitate. 
Before  them,  the  women  were  sitting,  dressing  Indian  corn 
or  wild  venison  ;  the  men  lying  by  their  side  with  intelli- 
gent and  happy  countenances,  graceful  in  their  attitudes, 
and  grave  and  dignified  in  their  address.  Some  of  the  par- 
ties whom  we  passed  in  the  glens  at  sun  set,  had  a  very  pic- 
turesque appearance. 

.  We  rode  nearly  two  hours  by  moonlight,  before  we  could 
find  water  for  our  horses :  at  length  observing  some  fires  at 
a  distance  in  the  woods,  we  struck  toward  them  ;  but  they 
were  surrounded  by  Indians,  to  whom  we  could  not  make 
ourselves  intelligible.  At  last  we  discerned  a  stream  of 
water,  and  near  it  two  or  three  parties  of  travellers ;  who 
had  already  lighted  their  fires,  by  which  they  were  toasting 
their  bacon,  and  boiling  their  cofTee.  We  invited  ourselves 
to  join  one,  consisting  of  a  little  Alabama  cotton-planter 
and  his  daughter,  whom  we  had  met  in  the  courise  of  the 
day.  He  was  in  a  situation  of  life  corresponding,  perhaps, 
with  that  of  our  second  or  third-rate  farmers  ;  and  was 
bringing  his  daughter  tVom  school  atMilledgeville  ii:  Geor- 
gia, from  300  to  400  miles  from  hence.  They  travelled  in  a 
little  Jersey  Waggon  or  (Dear-born,  or  Carry-all,  or  Carry- 
half,  as  this  humble  vehicle  is  variously  denominated) — 
''  Camping  out^'  every  night,  and  cooking  their  bacon  and 
cofTee  three  times  a  day. 

Some  stragglers  from  the  other  parties  joined  us,  for  a 
little  chat  before  bed-time;  and  were  consulting  on  the  pro- 
priety of  proceeding  directly  to  the  end  of  their  journey, 
or  staying  for  a  season,  as  is  very  common,  to  '^  make  a 
crop^'  on  some  of  the  unappropriated  public  lands.  When 
thev  were  gone,  our  Alabama  friends  sal  reading  by  the 


7    ' 


'JG5 


y  the  iit- 

ht,  tliere 
i;i(J  here 
k,  we  set 

Indian- 
y,  being 
loulders. 
Bs  of  Ill- 
days,  to 

the  wa- 
e.  Their 
crs,  and  a 

I  he  trees 
t  imitate. 
Jian  corn 
ih  inteili- 
attitudes, 
f  the  par- 
very  pic- 

we  could 
le  fires  at 
but  they 
not  make 
stream  of 
ers ;  who 
i  toasting 
ourselves 
n- planter 
se  of  the 
,  perhaps, 
and  was 
;  it:  Geor- 
relled  in  a 
or  Carry- 
inated) — 
)acoii  and 

us,  for  a 
n  the  pro- 
r journey, 
"  make  a 
s.  When 
iig  bv  the 


lire,  for  an  iiour  or  twf»  before  they  retired  to  rest ,  wlien 
the  little  girl  ascended  the  waggon  and  her  father  covered 
her  with  a  blanket,  and  spread  an  umbrella  over  her,  to 
protect  her  from  the  dew.  As  for  ourselves,  having  secured 
our  horses  and  given  them  their  supper,  and  contributed 
our  supply  to  the  stock  of  wood  for  the  night,  we  lay  down 
in  the  blankets  which  we  always  put  under  the  saddles,  to 
prevent  our  horses*  backs  being  galled ;  taking  our  saddle- 
bags for  pillows,  and  placing  our  pistols  by  our  side. 

In  the  course  of  the  night,  a  few  Indians  paid  us  a  visit ; 
walking  round  us,  and  examining  us  very  attentively,  but 
without  speaking.  The  novelty  of  the  scene,  however, 
prevented  my  sleeping  much.  On  my  left  hand,  were  my 
friend  the  Alabama  planter,  and  his  daughter,  with  her 
coffee-pot,  and  her  "  Tales  of  my  Landlord,"  at  her  fa- 
ther's feet.  About  100  yards  from  us  were  the  Emigrants 
from  Georgia  and  Carolina,  with  their  five  or  six  little  fires ; 
alternately  decaying  till  they  almost  disappeared,  and  then 
bursting  torth  with  a  vivid  flame  which  illuminated  the  in- 
tervening space,  and  flashed  on  the  horses  and  waggons 
ranged  around :  on  our  right  were  the  Indian  wigwams ; 
and  before  us,  at  a  distance,  some  acres  of  pine  woods  on 
fire.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  strong  light  which  occa- 
sionally emanated  from  so  many  sources,  and  the  features 
of  the  grotesque  which  the  picture  certainly  contained,  the 
stillness  of  the  night,  the  deep  blue  of  the  sky  above  us,  and 
the  sombre  colouring  of  the  heavy  forests  in  which  we  were 
enveloped,  imparted  to  this  novel  scene  a  character  of  so- 
lemnity which  preponderated  over  every  other  expression. 

We  set  off  as  soon  as  it  was  light ;  and,  passing  several 
creeks,  arrived  at  the  extremity  of  a  ridge,  from  which  we 
looked  down  into  a  savannah,  in  which  is  situated  the  Indian 
town  of  Cosito,  on  the  Chatahouchy.  It  appeared  to  con- 
sist of  about  1 00  houses,  many  of  them  elevated  on  poles 
from  two  to  six  feet  high,  and  built  of  unhewn  logs,  with 
roofs  of  bark,  and  little  patches  of  Indian  corn  before  the 
doors.  The  women  were  hard  at  work,  digging  the  ground, 
pounding  Indian  corn,  or  carrying  heavy  loads  of  water 
from  the  river  :  the  men  were  either  setting  out  to  the  woods 
with  their  guns,  or  lying  idle  before  the  doors  ;  and  the 
children  were  amusing  themselves  in  little  groups.  The 
whole  scene  reminded  me  strongly  of  some  of  the  African 
towns,  described  by  Mnngo  Park.  In  the  centre  of  the 
town,  we  passed  a  large  building,  with  a  conical  roof,  sup- 
ported by  a  circular  wall  about  three  feet  high  :  close  to  i* 

34 


^    ^P^ 


i'60 


k 


it 


wiis  a  juudrangiilar  space,  enclosed  l>>  Tuiir  open  buildings, 
wiili  runs  of  beiiclies  rising  above  one  another :  the  whole 
was  appropriated,  wc  were  informed,  to  the  Great  Council 
of  the  town,  who  meet,  under  shelter,  or  in  the  open  air, 
nccordiiig  to  the  weather.  Near  the  spot  was  n  high  pole, 
like  our  Aln y-poles,  with  a  bird  at  the  top,  round  which  the 
Indians  celebrate  their  Green-Corn  Dunce.  The  town  or 
township  of  Cosito  is  said  to  be  able  to  muster  700  war' 
riors,  while  the  number  belonging  to  the  whole  Nation  is 
not  estimated  at  more  than  t3500. 

About  a  mile  from  tlie  t'jwn  we  came  to  the  Chatahou- 
cby,  a  beautiful  river.  We  were  ferried  over  by  Indians, 
who  sang  in  response ;  the  Indian  Muses,  like  their  Eastern 
Sisters,  appearing  to  "love  alternate  song."  Their  dress 
frightened  our  horses ;  and,  as  we  were  pushing  from  the 
shore,  a  young  hunter  leapt  into  the  boat,  with  no  other 
covering  than  his  shirt  and  bell,  and  his  bow  and  arrows 
slung  behind. 

We  arrived  at  Ouchee  Bridge  about  one  o'clock  ;  and 
our  horses  being  rather  tired,  we  determined  to  rest  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day  at  a  stand  kept  by  a  young  man  from 
Philadelphia,  whose  partner  is  a  half-breed.  I  slept  in  a 
log-cabin,  without  windows ;  and  supped  with  my  host  and 
several  unwashed  artificers,  and  unshaved  labourers,  who, 
according  to  the  custom  of  this  part  of  the  country,  even 
when  not  within  Indian  limits,  sat  down  with  us  in  their 
shirt-sleeves,  fresh  from  their  labours.  Our  host  had  killed 
a  panther  a  few  days  previously,  within  twenty  yards  of  the 
house. 

Ouchee  Creek,  which  is  here  to  form  the  boundary  be- 
tween Alabama  and  Georgia,  when  the  Indian  title  is  ex- 
tinguished, derives  its  name  from  the  Ouchees,  a  conquered 
tribe  of  Indians  ;  many  of  whom  were  long  held  in  capti- 
vity by  the  victorious  Creeks.  We  saw  several  of  them, 
who  exhibited  in  the  subdued  and  dejected  expression  of 
their  countenances,  indications  of  their  degraded  condition. 

We  left  Ouchee  Bridge  on  the  26th  of  May ;  and  early 
in  the  afternoon,  arrived  at  Irish  Bainbridge,  where  we 
found  a  stand  in  which  the  ""  Big  Warrior"  is  a  sleeping 
partner,  and  a  head  waiter  from  one  of  the  principal  inns 
in  Washington,  the  efficient  man.  There  is,  however, 
another  partner,  whom  I  found  highly  interesting.  He 
had  lived  fifteen  years  in  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country, 
having  married  an  Indian  wife,  and  adopted  the  manners  of 
the  natives.    He  appeared  to  unite  great  mildness  and  iu- 


■I 


buildings, 
the  whole 
t  Council 
open  air, 
ligh  pole, 
which  the 
e  town  or 
700  war- 
Nation  is 

/hatahou- 
Y  Indians, 
ir  Eastern 
heir  dress 
;  from  the 
no  other 
id  arrows 

ock ;  and 
est  the  re- 
man from 
slept  in  a 
f  host  and 
rers,  who, 
itry,  even 
us  in  their 
had  killed 
irdsof  the 

ndary  be- 
tle  is  ex- 
conquered 
1  in  capti- 
1  of  them, 
iression  of 
condition, 
and  early 

where  we 
I  sleeping 
cipal  inns 

however, 
ing.  He 
I  country, 
nanners  of 
;ss  and  in- 


367 

t»>lliir<tnp;  and  has  r.omractrd  so  «rdn)f  :i  lovr  of  solitude, 
hy  living  in  the  woods,  that  lie  Inlcjy  rrinoved  liis  siitiid 
t'vitm  the  most  profitable  situation,  bcciiiisc  there  was  a 
neighbour  or  two  within  four  miles.  As  lie  was  ^oing  out 
to  hunt  in  the  woods,  for  an  hntir  or  two,  at  snii-set,  I  ac< 
companied  him  ;  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  Iciirning  some 
particulars  of  the  Creek  Indians,  from  one  so  long  and  so 
intimately  acquainted  with  thcrii. 

He  told  me  that  the  "Big  Warrior"  and  the  "  Little 
Prince"  are  the  Chief  Speakers  of  the  Nation,  or  the  Heads 
of  the  Civil  Department.  Their  dignity  is  not  strictly  here- 
ditary; although  some  of  the  family  usually  succeed,  if 
there  be  no  particular  objection.  The  Chief  Speakers  arc 
by  no  means  necessarily  the  principal  orators,  but  may 
employ  a  fluent  Chief  to  convey  their  sentiments.  Their 
office  is  to  carry  into  effect  the  decisions  of  the  Great  Coun- 
cil of  the  Nation;  a  deliberative  body,  composed  of  Chiefs 
from  the  different  tow  ns. 

The  most  popular  and  influential  person,  however,  in 
the  Nation,  is  Mackintosh,  the  Fiend  Warrior,  a  half-breed, 
under  forty  years  of  age ;  who  is  consulted  on  every  occa- 
sion, and  who,  in  a  great  measure,  directs  the  affairs  of  his 
country.  I  saw  him  at  Washington,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  on  a  deputation  to  the  American  Government. 
His  suite  were  at  the  inn  where  I  staid ;  and  on  inquiring 
from  one  of  his  Aides-du-Camp,  as  I  believed  (for  they 
adopt  our  military  terms,)  if  General  Mackintosh  had  ar- 
rived, I  was  a  little  startled  by  his  replying,  "  I  am  Mack- 
intosh.'' He  was  very  civil,  and  gave  me  an  invitation  to 
visit  him  if  I  passed  through  the  Creek  Nation,  which  at 
that  time  I  did  not  contemplate.  > 

My  host  regretted,  in  the  most  feeling  terms,  the  injury 
which  the  morals  of  the  Indians  have  sustained  from  inter- 
course with  the  Whites  ;  and  especially  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  whiskey,  which  has  been  their  bane,  fie  said  that 
female  licentiousness  before  marriage  is  not  attended  with 
loss  of  character;  but  that  conjugal  infidelity  is  punished  by 
whipping, shavingthe head, and  perpetual  exile; ilie busbfuid 
being  liable  to  suffer  the  same  severities,  if  he  connive  at  the 
return  of  his  oflending  wife.  The  murderer  is  now  public- 
ly executed  ;  the  law  of  private  retaliation  becoming  gra- 
dually obsolete.  Stealing  is  punished,  for  the  first  oflence, 
by  whipping;  for  the  second,  by  the  loss  of  the  cars  ;  for 
the  third,  by  death — the  amount  stolen  being  disregarded. 
My  host  remembers  when  there  was  no  law  against  stcalintr ; 


yA 


I 


*  m 


M 


HI 


2C8 


if  ♦. 


the  crime  itself  being  almost  unknown — when  the  Indians 
would  go  a  hunting,  or  "  froiicking,"  for  one  or  two  days, 
leaving  their  clothes  on  the  bushes  opposite  their  wigwams, 
in  a  populous  neighbourhood,  or  their  silver  trinkets  and 
ornaments  hanging  in  their  open  huts.  Confidence  and', 
generosity  were  then  their  characteristic  virtues.  A  de- 
sire of  gain,  caught  from  the  whites,  has  chilled  their  libe- 
rality ;  and  abused  cr^ulity  has  taught  them  suspicion 
and  deceit.  He  considers  them  still  attached  to  the  English, 
although  disappointed  in  the  little  assistance  which  they 
derived  from  them  in  late  wars.  This,  however,  they  at- 
tribute, rather  to  the  distance  of  the  British,  which  renders 
them  less  valuable  allies  than  they  expected,  than  to  a 
treacherous  violation  of  their  promises.  Whatever  the 
first  glow  of  British  feeling  may  dictate,  on  hearing  of  their 
attachment,  enlightened  humanity  will  not  repine,  if,  under 
their  present  circumstances,  they  are  becoming  daily  more 
closely  connected  with  the  American  government,  which 
has  evinced  an  active  solicitude  for  their  civilization. 

Our  recluse  told  us  that  they  have  a  general  idea  of  a 
Supreme  Being;  but  no  religious  days,  nor  any  religious 
rites,  unless,  as  he  is  disposed  to  believe,  their  Green-Corn 
Dance  be  one.  Before  the  corn  turns  yellow,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  each  town  or  district  assemble;  and  a  certain  num- 
ber enter  the  streets  of  what  is  more  properly  called  the 
town,  with  the  war-whoop  and  savage  yells,  firing  their  ar- 
rows in  the  air,  and  going  several  times  round  the  pole. 
They  then  take  emetics,  and  fast  two  days ;  dancing  round 
the  pole  a  great  part  of  the  night.  All  the  fires  in  the 
townsli'p  are  then  extinguished,  and  the  hearths  cleared, 
and  new  fires  kindled  by  rubbing  two  sticks.  After  this, 
they  parch  some  of  the  new  corn,  and,  feasting  a  little,  dis- 
perse to  their  several  homes.  Many  of  the  old  Chiefs  are 
of  opinion,  that  their  ancestors  intended  this  ceremony  as  a 
thank-offering  to  the  Supreme  Being,  for  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  and  for  success  in  hunting  or  in  war. 

The  more  reflecting  of  the  Creeks  think  much,  but  say 
little  of  the  change  which  is  taking  place  in  their  condition. 
They  see  plainly  that,  with  respect  to  their  future  destiny, 
it  is  a  question  of  civilization  or  extinction  ;  and  a  ques- 
tion, the  decision  of  which  cannot  be  Jong  postponed. 
They  are  therefore,  become  very  solicitous  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Schools  ;  and  the  introduction  of  the  various 
arts,  from  which  the  whites  derive  their  superiority.  In 
fnme  of  these,  they  have  already  made  considerable  pro- 


209 


wo  days, 
ngwams, 
kets  and 
ence  and-. 
A  de- 
leir  libe- 
suspicion 

English, 
lich  they 
,  they  al- 
h  renders 
than  to  a 
tever  the 
ig  of  their 

if,  under 
ally  more 
nt,  which 
ion. 

idea  of  a 

religious 
reen-Corn 
e  inhabit- 
tail;  num- 
called  the 
5  their  ar- 

the  pole, 
ing  round 
res  in  the 
IS  cleared, 
IVfter  this, 

little,  dis- 
Chiefs  are 
mony  as  a 
I  its  of  the 

but  say 
condition, 
•e  destiny, 
d  a  ques- 
lostponed. 
the  estab- 
he  various 
ority.  In 
rable  pro- 


grc^js ;  and  the  nation  at  this  time  exhibits  the  very  inter' 
esting  spectacle  of  society  in  several  of  its  earlier  stages. 
The  hunter,  who  still  spends  much  of  his  time  in  his  fa- 
vourite pursuit,  is  the  possessor  of  perhaps  several  hundred 
head  of  cattle ;    and,  if  the  warrior  do  not  literally  turn  his 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  into  pruning-hooks,  he  is  sa- 
tisfied to  regard  them  as  mere  articles  of  dress,  till  hostili- 
ties shall  again  call  him  into  the  field  j  and  is  ambitious  to 
attain  distinction  in  agricultural  pursuits.     I  saw  several 
neat  and  flourishing  little  farms,  as  i  passed  through  the 
nation ;  but  my  pleasure  was  alloyed  by  observing,  that 
the  labour  generally  devolved  on  either  the  African  negro, 
or  the  Indian  wife.    As  few  of  the  Creeks  are  rich  enough  to 
purchase  many  negroes,  all  the  drudgery  is  performed  by 
the  women  ;  and  it  is  melancholy  to  meet  them,  as  we  con- 
tinually did,  with  an  infant  hanging  on  their  necks,  bend- 
ing under  a  heavy  burden,  and   leading  their  husband's 
horse,  while  he  walked  before  them,  erect  and  graceful,  ap- 
parently without  a  care.     This  servitude  has  an  unfavour- 
able effect  on  the  appearance  of  the  women  ;  those  above 
a  certain  age  being  generally  bent  and  clumsy,   with   a 
scowl  on  their  wrinkled  foreheads,  and  an  expression  of 
countenance  at  once  vacant  and  dejected. 

We  did  not  leave  our  little  cabin  at  Irish  Bainbridge,  un- 
til the  28th  of  May,  the  27th  being  Sunday.  It  is  situated 
on  the  ridge  which  separates  the  waters  of  the  Chatahouchy 
from  those  of  the  Coosa  and  Jallapoasa.  I  was  a  little 
surprised  to  find  there,  the  son  of  the  owner  of  one  of  the 
principal  inns  in  Preston  in  Lancashire,  projecting  the  in- 
troduction of  a  woollen  manufactory  among  the  Creeks, 
under  the  sanction  of  the  natives. 

Soon  after  leaving  our  friends  at  Irish  Bainbridge,  we 
passed  Caleebe  and  Cubahatchee  Swamps ;  and,  in  the 
evening  arrived  at  Lime  Creek,  which  we  were  told  forms, 
at  that  place,  the  present  boundary  line  between  the  Creek 
Nation  and  Alabama. 

Choctaw  Indians. 

In  the  morning  of  the  third  day  after  leaving  Natchez, 
Mr.  Hodgson  entered  the  Choctaw  Nation.  He  proceed- 
ed on  what  is  called  the  "  Natchez"  or  "  Kentucky 
Train  ;"  that  is,  the  road  by  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Kentucky  or  Tennessee  return  home  from  Natchez  througrh 


i 


I- 


.  iiil 


270 


I'  (0 


I'j', 


sVif 


I  ■  In 


the  Wilderness,  wlien  tliey  have  broken  up  the  rude  bout-i 
in  which  the  produce  of  the  Western  Country  is  conveyed 
down  the  Mississippi.  *'  Stands,"  as  they  are  called,  or 
houses  of  entertainment,  are  placed  at  the  distance  of  tiiir- 
ty  or  forty  miles  from  one  another,  throughout  the  Na- 
tion. 

While  resting  at  one  of  these  places,  on  the  first  Sunday 
after  he  had  entered  the  Nation,  Mr.  Hodgson  says — 

We  were  visited  by  many  Indians,  some  of  whom  were 
rather  importunate  for  whiskey  or  tobacco.  In  the 
woods,  about  half-a-mile  distant,  50  or  60  were  collected 
to  revenge  the  death  of  a  woman,  who  had  been  murdered 
a  few  days  before  as  a  witch ;  but  matters  appeared  likely 
to  be  compromised  without  bloodshed :  we  afterward  saw, 
however,  by  the  newspapers,  that  the  dispute  terminated 
in  a  bloody  conflict. 

Toward  evening,  ten  or  twelve  travellers  dropped  in — 
a  noisy  set.  W^e  ail  slept  on  bear-skins  on  the  floor.  Our 
host  told  me  that  there  were  not  five  nights  in  the  year,  in 
which  some  travellers  did  not  sleep  there,  and  that  seventy 
or  e'^^hty  occasionally  called  in  a  day.  He  removed  from 
North  Carolina  about  nine  years  ago,  and  has  acquired 
considerable  property. 

Set  off  early  on  the  15th  of  May ;  and  finding  that  at  the 
cabin  where  we  purposed  to  stop,  tliey  no  longer  received 
travellers,  we  had  to  go  twenty-five  miles  to  breakfast. 
Here  we  got  some  coffee  in  an  Indian  hut,  where  the  inha- 
bitants could  not  speak  English. 

As  soon  as  it  appeared  to  be  twelve  o'clock  by  the  sun, 
three  of  the  Indian  women  covered  themselves  with  blan- 
kets, and  approached  a  little  spot  in  the  garden,  enclosed 
by  six  upright  poles,  on  the  highest  of  which  were  suspend- 
ed several  chaplets  of  vine  leaves  and  tendrils:  here  they 
either  sat  or  kneeled  (the  blankets  preventing  our  seeing 
whicii)  for  about  twenty   minutes,  uttering  a  low  monoto- 
nous wailing.     This  mournful  ceremony  they   repeat,  at 
sun-rise,  noon,    and   sun- set,   for    ninety   days,    or  three 
moons,  as  the  Egyptians  mourned  for  Jacob  threescore 
and  ten  days.     1  have  since   been  informed,  by  a  very  in- 
telligent Indian,  that  the  period  of  mourning  is  sometimes 
extended  to  four  or  five  moons,  if  the  individual  be  deeply 
regretted,  or  of  eminent  rank ;  and  that  it  is  occasionally 
determined  by  the  time  occupied  in  killing  the  deer  and 
other  animals  necessary  for  the  great  feast  which  is  often 
given  at  the  pulling  up  of  the  poles. 


.1 


y7i 


At  the  celebrated  ceremony  of  the  "  pole-pulling,"  the 
family  connexions  assemble  from  a  great  distance;  and, 
when  they  are  particular  in  observing  the  ancient  customs, 
they  spend  two  or  three  days  and  nights  in  solemn  preps 
ration  and  previous  rites.  They  then  all  endeavour  to 
take  hold  of  bcme  pr\rt  of  the  poles,  which  they  pluck  up 
and  throw  behind  them  without  looking,  moving  back- 
ward toward  the  East.  They  then  feast  together,  and  dis- 
perse to  their  several  homes.  It  was  impossible  to  hear 
this  simple  recital  without  thinking  of  the  account  in  Ge- 
nesis, 1.  1 — 14. 

Till  within  ten  or  fifteen  years,  the  Choctaws  generally 
killed  the  favourite  horses  or  dogs  of  the  deceased,  and 
buried  them,  with  his  gun  and  hatchet,  in  his  grave.  They 
still  sometimes  bury  the  gun ;  but  it  is  too  frequently  sto- 
len :  and  they  now  satisfy  themselves  with  believing  that 
the  spirits  of  the  horses  and  dogs  will  rejoin  that  of  their 
master  at  their  death.  The  settlement  of  White  people 
among  them,  and  occasional  intermarriages,  have  under- 
mined many  of  their  customs.  The  Choctaws  formerly 
scaffolded  their  dead,  in  a  house  appropriated  for  the  pur- 
pose, in  their  different  towns ;  and  in  these  houses,  the  va- 
rious families  were  kept  distinct.  Sometimes  they  bury 
them  in  their  dwellings,  like  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

Mr.  Hodgson  describes,  at  large,  the  Indian  Dance  and 
Ball  Play.  The  game  resembles  cricket,  and  gives  scope 
to  such  an  exhibition  of  agility  and  strength,  as  would 
have  been  hailed  with  loud  applause  in  an  ancient  amphi- 
theatre. 

All  violence  on  these  occasions  is  forgiven ;  and  I  was 
informed  that  it  is  the  only  case,  in  which  life  is  not  gener- 
ally required  for  life. 

The  Law  of  Retaliation  is  still  almost  in  full  force  among 
the  Choctaws ;  the  nearest  relation  of  a  fugitive  murder- 
er being  liable  to  expiate  the  offence.  An  intelligent  In- 
dian told  me,  however,  that  the  Choctaws  are  becoming 
more  anxious  than  formerly,  that  the  offender  himself 
should  suffer;  and  that  his  family  and  that  of  the  deceased 
generally  unite,  if  necessary,  to  prevail  on  him  to  kill  him- 
self. He  said,  that  three  or  four  instances  of  this  kind  usu- 
ally happen  in  a  year,  in  the  circle  of  his  acquaintance ; 
but  that  it  is  more  common  for  an  Indian,  who  has  killed 
another  by  accident  or  design,  to  remain  with  the  body 
till  he  is  found,  lest  his  relations  should  suffer.     He  nien- 


^. 


«*, 


4 

r 


F     <** 


272 


li  't 


,^  * '( 


k 


■4 


tioiied  a  circumstance  of  difficulty,  which  was  then  pend 
ing  in  the  neighbourhood.  A  woman,  being  greatly  in- 
sulted and  defamed  in  the  presence  of  her  husband,  and 
threatened  with  a  blow  from  a  knife,  stabbed  her  assailant 
to  the  heart :  doubts  have  arisen  whether  she  is  bound  to 
kill  herself,  her  family  insisting  that  circumstances  justifi- 
ed the  deed. 

We  left  the  Indians  in  the  middle  of  their  game  ;  and  re- 
joiced to  think  of  the  blessings  which  missionary  efforts  are 
preparing  for  them.     We  slept  about  18  miles  distant. 

The  following  morning  we  set  off,  as  usual,  about  four 
oVlock ;  and  breakfasted  at  the  house  of  an  Irishman,  who 
left  Waterford  30  years  since,  to  carry  on  the  Fur  Trade, 
buying  the  furs  from  the  Indians,  and  selling  them  at  Mo- 
bile and  Pensacola.  The  embargo  interrupted  his  trade, 
and  he  is  settled  here  with  his  Indian  wife. 

Mr.  Hodgson  here  left  the  Kentucky  Trace,  with  the  in- 
tention of  visiting  the  Missionary  Settl«ment,  among  the 
Choctaws,  at  Elliot,  about  60  miles  from  the  road.  Of 
this  visit  he  gives  the  following  narrative : — 

Our  course  was  through  the  woods,  along  a  blazed  path 
about  a  foot  broad ;  and,  as  it  was  necessary  to  procure  a 
guide,  our  host  rode  with  us  till  he  had  engaged  an  Indian, 
who,  for  a  dollar,  attended  us  25  miles  on  his  little  horse. 
At  night  we  reached  the  cabin  of  a  half-breed,  who  took  us 
in.  We  found  him  setting  a  trap  for  a  wolf,  which  had  at- 
tempted, a  few  hours  before,  to  carry  off  a  pig  in  sight  of 
the  family. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening,  one  of  the  missionary  bre- 
thren arrived  from  Elliot,  for  some  cattle,  which  were  rang- 
ing in  the  woods ;  he  promised  us  a  hearty  welcome  at  the 
establishment. 

The  following  day  we  set  off  early,  our  friends  having 
procured  us  an  Indian  to  take  us  the  first  twelve  miles :  he 
could  not  speak  English  ;  but,  having  received  his  quarter 
of  a  dollar,  and  parted  from  us  at  the  appointed  place,  he 
returned  to  draw  our  track  in  the  sand,  pointing  out  all  the 
forks  and  little  cross- paths,  and  again  left  us.  After  pro- 
ceeding about  a  mile,  where  we  were  a  little  embarrassed, 
we  were  surprised  to  find  him  again  at  our  side,  making 
motions  to  direct  our  route.  Again  we  shook  hands  and 
parted :  but  being  again  puzzled  by  a  diverging  path,  half 
a  mile  distant,  we  looked  round  almost  instinctively,  and 
tlipre  was  our  faithful  fellow  still  watching  our  steps :  he 


m 


i73 


then  came  up  and  set  us  right — made  signs  that  our  road 
now  lay  in  the  direction  of  the  sun — and  then  finally  dis- 
appeared ;  leaving  us  much  affected  by  his  disinterested 
solicitude. 

We  had  a  delightful  ride  along  our  Indian  Path,  through 
a  forest  of  fine  oaks  ;  which,  within  ten  or  twelve  miles  of 
Valoo  Busha,  was  occasionally  interspersed  \vith  small  na- 
tural prairies,  and  assumed  the  appearance  of  an  English 
park,  i  felt  as  if  1  was  approaching  consecrated  ground  ; 
and  the  confidence  which  1  had  in  the  kindness  of  those  on 
whom  i  was  going  to  intrude  myself  (christian  kindness  is 
not  capricious)  relieved  me  from  any  awkwardness  about 
my  reception.  If  1  had  felt  any,  it  would  soon  have  been 
dismissed  by  the  simple  hospitality  of  the  Missionaries. 

Soon  after  my  arrival,  we  proceeded  to  the  school,  just 
as  a  half-breed,  who  has  taken  great  interest  in  it,  was  pre- 
paring to  give  the  children  ''  a  talk,"  previous  to  return- 
ing home,  60  miles  distant.  He  is  a  very  intluential  Chinf, 
and  a  man  of  compreliensive  views  :  he  first  translated  into 
Choctaw,  a  letter  to  the  children,  from  some  benevolent 
friends  in  the  north,  who  had  sent  it  with  a  present  of  u 
box  of  clothes :  he  then  gave  them  a  long  address  in 
Choctaw.  When  he  took  leave,  Ije  shook  hands  with  me— - 
said  he  was  glad  to  hear  that  the  white  people  in  England 
were  interested  in  the  welfare  of  their  red  brethren — that 
the  Choctaws  were  sensible  of  their  want  of  instruction, 
and  that  their  teachers  were  pleased  to  say  that  they  were 
not  incapable  of  it — that  they  were  grateful  for  what  had 
been  done;  and  were  aware  that  it  was  their  duty  to  co- 
operate, to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  with  those  who 
were  exerting  themselves  on  their  behalf. 

As  soon  as  school  was  over,  the  boys  repaired  to  their 
agricultural  labours ;  their  instructor  work:  „(  with  them, 
and  communicating  information  in  the  most  afiectionate 
manner :  the  girls  proceeded  to  their  sewing  and  domes- 
tic employments,  under  the  missionary  sisters.  They 
were  afterwards  at  liberty,  till  the  supper-bell  rang ;  when 
we  all  sat  down  together  to  bread  and  milk,  and  various 
preparations  of  Indian  corn;  the  missionaries  presiding 
at  the  difierent  tables,  and  confining  thomselves,  as  is  their 
custom  except  in  case  of  sickness,  to  precisely  the  same 
food  as  the  scholars.  After  supper,  a  chapter  Jn  the  Bi- 
ble was  read,  with  Scott's  Practical  Observations.  This 
was  follomd  by  singing  and  prayer;  and  then  all  retired 
to  their  little  rooms,  tn  their  log  cabins. 

.?5 


274 


% 


I    I 


m 


111  the  morning,  at  daylight,  the  boys  were  at  tiieir 
agriculture,  and  the  girls  at  their  domestic  employments. 
About  seven  o^clock,  we  assembled  for  reading,  singing, 
and  prayer;  and,  soon  afterward,  for  breakfast.  After  an 
interval  for  play,  the  school  opened  with  prayer  and  sing- 
ing, a  chapter  in  the  Bible,  and  examination  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  chapter  of  the  preceding  day.  The  children 
then  proceeded  to  reading,  writing,  accounts,  and  English 
grammar,  on  a  modification  of  the  British  system.  The 
instructors  say  that  they  never  knew  white  children 
learn  with  so  much  facility ;  and  the  specimens  of  writing 
exhibited  unequivocal  proofs  of  rapid  progress.  Many 
spoke  English  very  well. 

Toward  evening  1  was  gratified  by  the  arrival  of  the 
Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury,  who  has  the  general  superinten- 
dence of  the  mission.  He  had  been  determining  the  di- 
rection of  a  path,  to  be  blazed  to  another  settlement,  on  the 
Tombigbee  river,  in  Alabama ;  and  although  he  had  slept 
in  the  woods  in  heavy  rain  the  preceding  night,  he  sat  up 
in  my  room  till  after  midnight,  and  the  following  morning 
rode  with  us  seven  miles,  to  see  us  safe  across  the  Yaloo 
Busha. 

The  immediate  object  of  the  Settlement  of  Elliot  (called 
by  the  Indians  Yaloo  Busha,  from  its  proximity  to  a  little 
river  of  that  name  which  falls  into  the  Yazoo) — is  the  re- 
ligious instruction  of  the  Indians.  The  missionaries  are, 
however,  aware,  that  this  must  necessarily  be  preceded  or 
accompanied  by  their  civilization ;  and  that  mere  preach- 
ing to  the  aduh  Indians,  though  partially  beneficial  to  the 
present  generation,  would  not  probably  be  attended  with 
any  general  or  permanent  results.  While,  therefore,  the 
religious  interests  of  the  children  are  the  objects  nearest 
to  their  hearts,  they  are  anxious  to  put  them  in  possession 
of  those  qualifications,  which  may  secure  to  them  an  im- 
portant influence  in  the  councils  of  their  nation,  and  ena- 
ble them  gradually  to  induce  their  roaming  brethren  to 
abandon  their  erratic  habits  for  the  occupations  of  civiliz- 
ed life.  The  general  feelings  of  the  nation,  at  this  mo- 
ment, are  most  auspicious  to  their  undertaking.  For  the 
reasons  which  I  assigned  when  speaking  of  the  Creeks,  the 
community  at  large  is  most  solicitous  for  civilization.  In 
this  they  have  made  some  progress;  many  of  them  grow- 
ing cotton,  and  spinning  and  weaving  it  into  coarse  cloth- 
ing. 

Of  the  iliree  districts  or  towns  into   which  its   15  or 


at  their 
oyments. 
singing, 
After  an 
nd  sing- 
the  sub- 
children 
English 
.      The 
children 
'  writing 
Many 

'al  of  the 
iperinten- 
ig  the  di- 
it,  on  the 
had  slept 
he  sat  up 
morning 
he  Yaloo 

lot  (called 
to  a  little 
-is  the  re- 
aries  are, 
eceded  or 
re  preach- 
ial  to  the 
ided  with 
efore,  the 
ts  nearest 
possession 
;m  an  inl- 
and ena- 
ethren  to 
of  civiliz- 
t  this  mn- 
For  the 
'reeks,  the 
tion.  In 
em  grow- 
irse  cloth- 
its    15   or 


275 

20,000  souls  are  divided,  one  has  appropriated  to  the  use 
of  schools,  its  annuity  for  seventeen  years,  of  2000  dol- 
lars per  annum,  received  from  the  United  States  for  ceded 
lands;  another,  its  annuity  of  1000  dollars  per  annum, 
with  the  prospect  of  1000  more  :  and  one  has  requested  the 
United  States,  not  only  to  forbid  the  introduction  of  ammu- 
nition into  the  nation,  that  the  hunter  may  be  compelled  to 
work  ;  but  to  send  their  annuity  in  implements  of  husband- 
ry. At  a  recent  general  council  of  the  Chiefs,  1300  dollars 
in  money,  and  upwards  of  eighty  cows  and  calves,  were 
subscribed  for  the  use  of  schools,  and  the  total  contribution 
of  the  Choctaws  to  this  object  exceeds  70,000  dollars. 

Here  is  noble  encouragement  for  active  benevolence  ! 
and  the  industry,  judgment,  and  piety,  of  the  seven  or  eight 
brethren  and  sisters  at  Elliot  seem  to  qualify  them  in  a  pecu- 
liar manner,  for  their  respond ibie  ofHce.  They  have  all  dis- 
tinct departments — the  Rev.   Mr.    Kingsbury  being    the 
superintendent ;    another  brother,  the  physician  and  stew- 
ard ;  another,  the  instructor  of  the  children ;  another,  the 
manager  of  the  farm  :    the  females  also  have  separate  and 
definite  duties.     At  present,  they  are  over  worked  ;  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Kingsbury  greatly  regretted  that  so  much  of 
his  attention  was  necessarily  engrossed  by  his  secular  cou- 
rerns.     But,  coming  into  a  wilderness,  in  which  the  fust 
tree  was  felled  but  about  eighteen  months  since,  they  have 
had  something  to  do,  to  erect  ten  or  eleven  little  log  build- 
ings, to  bring  into  cultivation  40  or  50  acres  of  woodland, 
and  to  raise  upward  of  200  head  of  cattle.     A  deep  sense, 
however,  of  the  importance  of  their  object,  and  an  unfalter- 
ing confidence  in  God's  blessing  on  their  exertions,  have 
supported  them  under  the  diflicuUies  of  an   infant  settle- 
ment 'f  and  under  tiie  still  severer  trials  of  a  final  neparation 
from  the  circle  of  tlicir  dearest  friends,  and  a  total  renun- 
ciation of  every  worldly  pursuit. 

And,  indeed,  tlicir  situation  is  an  enviable  one.  In  n 
happy  exemption  from  most  of  the  cares  and  many  of  tlie 
temptations  of  common  life — conversant  with  ilic  most 
delightful  and  elevated  objects  of  contemplation — stimu 
lated  to  perpetual  a«:tivity,  by  an  imperious  sense  -»f  duty, 
and  conscious  of  disinterested  sacrifices  in  the  noblest 
cause — can  we  wonder  if  they  manifest  a  degree  of  cheer- 
fulness and  tranquillity,  seldom  exhibited  even  by  eminent 
Christians,  who  are  more  in  the  world  ?  I  was  particular- 
ly struck  with  their  apparent  humility,  with  the  kindness 
of  their  manner  toward  one  another,  and  the  little  attentions 
which  they  seemed  solicitous  to  reoiprocatp. 


o 


t    ;. 


b  i 


L»fl 


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f! 


u 


* 


I 


») 


276 

They  spoke  very  lightly  of  their  privations,  and  of  the 
trials  wiiich  the  world  supposes  to  be  their  greatest ;  sensi- 
ble, as  they  said,  that  these  are  often  experienced,  in  at 
least  as  great  a  degree,  by  the  soldier,  the  sailor,  or  even 
the  merchant.  Yet,  in  this  country,  these  trials  are  by  no 
means  trifling.  L^ing  out,  for  two  or  three  months,  in  the 
woods,  with  their  little  babes — in  tents  which  cannot  re- 
sist the  rain,  here  falling  in  torrents  such  as  I  never  saw  in 
England — within  sound  of  the  nightly  howling  of  wolves, 
and  occasionally  visited  by  panthers,  which  have  approach- 
ed almost  to  the  door — the  ladies  must  be  allowed  to  require 
some  courage ;  while,  during  many  seasons  of  the  year, 
the  gentlemen  cannot  go  twenty  miles  from  home  (and 
they  are  sometimes  obliged  to  go  thirty  or  forty  for  pro- 
visions) without  swimming  their  horses  o\'er  four  or  five 
creeks.  Yet,  as  all  these  inconveniences  are  suffered  by 
others  with  cheerfulness,  from  wordly  motives,  they  would 
wish  them  to  be  suppressed  in  tlie  missionary  reports  if 
they  were  not  calculated  to  deter  many  from  engaging  as 
missionaries,  under  the  idea  that  it  is  an  easy  retired  life. 

Their  real  trials  they  stated  to  consist  in  their  own  im- 
perfections ;  and  in  those  mental  maladies,  which  the  retire- 
ment of  a  desert  cannot  cure. 

In  the  course  of  our  walks,  Mr.  Williams  pointed  out  to 
me  a  simple  tomb,  in  which  he  had  deposited  the  remains 
of  a  younger  brother  ;  who  lost  his  way  in  the  desert  when 
coming  out  to  join  them,  and  whose  long  exposure  to  rain 
and  fasting  laid  the  seeds  of  a  fatal  disease.  It  was  almost 
in  sight  of  one  of  those  Indian  mounds,  which  I  have  often 
met  with  in  the  woods,  and  of  which  the  oldest  Indians 
can  give  no  account.  They  resemble  the  Cairns  in  Scot- 
land ;  and  one  of  the  missionaries  mentioned  having  seen  a 
skeleton  dug  out  of  one  of  them. 

Three  young  ladies  were  staying  at  the  settlement,  and 
assisting  in  its  establishment,  until  the  husbands  of  two  of 
them  should  return  from  the  Arkansaw,  where  they  are  ex- 
ploring the  country,  to  fix  on  an  eligible  situation  for  a  mis- 
sion to  those  Cherokees,  who  have  been  induced  to  sell  their 
lands  in  Georgia  to  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  seek  a  subsistence  in  the  wilder  forests  beyond  the 
Mississippi. 

I  was  highly  gratified  by  my  visit  to  Elliot — this  garden 
in  a  moral  wilderness ;  and  was  pleased  with  the  opportu- 
nity of  seeing  a  missionary  settlement  in  its  infant  state, 
before  the  wounds  of  recent  separation  from  kindred  and 


i 


t'riends  had  ceased  to  bleed,  and  habit  had  rendered  the 
missionaries  familiar  with  the  peculiarities  of  their  novel 
situation. 

The  sight  of  the  children  also,  many  of  them  still    in 
Indian  costume,  was  most  interesting.     I  could   not  help 
imagining,  that,  before  me,  might  be  some  Alfred   of  this 
western  world,  the   future   founrier   of  institutions  which 
were  to  enlighten  and  civilize  his  country — some  Choctaw 
Swartz  or  Elliot,  destined  to  disseminate  the  blessings  of 
Christianity,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Frozen  Sea.     I  contrasted  them  in 
their  social,  their  moral,   and   their   religious  condition, 
with  the  straggling  hunters  and  their  painted  faces,  who 
occasionally  stared   through   the  windows;  or,   with   the 
half-naked  savages,  whom  we  had  seen  in  the  forests  a  few 
nights  before,  dancing  round   their   midnight  (ires,  with 
their  tomahawks  and  scalping  knives,  rending  the  air  with 
their  fierce  war  whoop,  or  making  the  woods   thrill  with 
their  savage  yells.     But  they  form  a  yet  stronger  contrast 
with  the  poor  Indians,  whom  we  had  seen  on  the  frontier — 
corrupted,  degraded,  and    debased    by  their   intercourse 
with  English,  Irish,  or  American  traders. 

It  was  not  without  emotion  that  I  parted,  in  all   human 
probability  for  ever  in  this  world,  from  my  kind  and  inter- 
esting friends,  and  prepared   to   return  to  the  tumultuous 
scenes  of  a  busy  world  ;  from  which — if  life  be  spared — my 
thoughts  will  often  stray  to  the  sacred  solitudes  of  Yaloo 
Busha,  as  to  a  source  \>(  the  most  grateful  and   refreshing 
recollections.     I  w  as  ahnost  the  first  person  from  a  distance, 
who  had  visited  this  remote  settlement ;    and  was  charged 
with  several  letters  to  the  t'riends  of  the  missionaries.     I  be- 
lieve they  had  pleasure  in  thinking  that  I  should  probably 
in  a  tew  weeks  sec  those,  the  endearments  of  whose  society 
they  had  renounced  for  this  world  :    it  seemed  to   bring 
them  nearer  the  scenes  to  which  they  had  recentljf    bid   a 
last  adieu.       I  felt  a  strange  emotion,  in  being  thus  made 
the  link  of  communication  between  these  self-devoted  fol- 
lowers of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  the  world  which  they  had 
for  ever  quitted  ;   and  when  I  saw  with  what  affection  they 
cherished    the  recollection    of    many,    whose   faces    they 
expected  to  see  no  more  in  this  life,  I  turned  with  peculiar 
pleasure  to  our  Saviour's  animating  assurance — *'  There 
is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,   or 
father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  lands,  for  my  sake  and  the 
gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundred-fold   now    in   thi^ 
time,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting." 


278 


\)  : 


r^' 


1  left  with  them  a  Inte  number  of  the  Missionary  Register, 
-and  another  of  the  Christian  Observer,  which  I  had  just  re- 
ceived from  England. 

After  parting  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kingsbury  on  the  banks 
of  the  1  aloo  Busha,  we  proceeded  through  the  woods, 
along  an  Indian  path,  till  evening,  when  we  reached  the 
dwelling  of  a  half-breed  Choctaw,  whose  wife  wns  a  Chicka- 
saw, and  whose  hut  was  on  the  frontier  of  the  two  nations. 
We  found  him  sitting  before  the  door,  watching  the  gam- 
bols of  fifty  or  sixty  of  his  horses,  which  were  frolicking 
before  him  ;  and  of  more  than  200  very  fine  cattle,  which 
at  sunset  were  '  nming  up  as  usual,  of  their  own  accord, 
from  different  parts  of  the  surrounding  forest,  where  they 
have  a  boundless  and  luxuriant  range.  The  whole  scene 
reminded  me  strongly  of  pastoral  and  patriarchal  times. 
He  had  chosen  this  situation,  he  said,  for  its  retirement  (in 
some  directions  he  had  no  neighbours  for  fifty  or  a  hundred 
miles,)  and  because  it  afibrded  him  excellent  pasturage 
and  water  for  his  cattle :  he  added,  that  occupation  would 
give  him  and  his  family  a  title  to  it  as  long  as  they  chose. 
He  had  a  few  slaves  to  cultivate  as  much  land  as  was  ne- 
cessary, and  occasionally  killed  as  many  deer  in  as  man  y 
hours.  Near  the  house  were  some  bones  of  the  buffalo  ; 
but  that  animal  has  not  been  seen  in  this  part  of  the  country 
for  many  years.  He  p-ive  us  a  hospitable  reception  ;  and 
spread  a  bearskin  for  each  of  us  in  his  only  room,  which 
we  occupied  for  two  nights,  the  following  day  being  Sun- 
day. 

As  our  host  spoke  English  very  well,  and  was  very  in- 
telligent, our  quiet  meals  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  obtain- 
ing some  information  from  him  relative  to  the  Indians. 

His  wife,  a  pleasing  young  woman,  ate  with  us,  but  would 
not  or  could  not  speak  English ;  and  I  often  smiled  to  find 
myself  sitting  over  a  cup  of  cofiee  between  a  Chickasaw 
and  a  Choctaw. 

He  told  me,  that  great  changes  had  taken  place  among 
Indians,  even  in  his  time — that  in  many  tribes,  when  he 
was  young,  the  children,  as  soon  as  they  rose,  were  made 
to  plunge  in  the  water,  and  swim,  in  the  coldest  weather; 
and  were  then  collected  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  to  learn 
the  manners  and  customs  of  their  ancestors,  and  hear  the 
old  men  recite  the  traditions  of  their  forefathers.  They 
were  assembled  again,  at  sunset,  for  the  same  purpose ; 
and  were  taught  to  regard  as  a  sacred  duty,  the  transmis- 
sion to  their  posterity  of  the  lessons  thus  acquired.     "  And 


I, 
•Ml 


279 

tliou  sliaU  teach  them  dilig?ntly  unto  thy  children,  and 
shah  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house,  and  when 
thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thoa  iiest  down,  and 
when  tliuu  risest  up."  He  said,  that  this  custom  is  now 
abandoned  by  all  the  tribes  with  which  he  is  acquainted, 
except,  to  use  his  own  words,  ^'  where  there  is,  here  and 
there,  an  old  ancient  fellow,  who  upholds  the  old  way'' — 
that  many  have  talked  of  resuming  their  old  customs, 
which  the  whites  have  gradually  undermined ;  but  are  una- 
ble, from  the  loss  of  their  traditions — that  he  supposes  that 
these  might  be  recovered,  from  distant  tribes  over  the 
Mississippi ;  but  that  the  Ghoctaws  are  acting  more  wisely 
in  seeking  civilization. 

He  told  me  that  they  had  an  obscure  story,  somewhat 
resembling  that  of  Jacob  wrestling  with  an  angel ;  and  that 
the  full-blooded  Indians  always  separate  the  sinew  which 
shrank,  and  that  it  is  never  seen  in  the  venison  exposed  for 
sale :  he  did  not  know  what  they  did  with  it.  His  elder 
brother,  whom  I  afterwards  met,  told  me  that  they  eat  it  as 
a  rarity  ;  but  I  have  also  heard,  though  on  less  respectable 
authority,  that  they  refrain  from  it,  like  the  ancient  Jews. 
A  gentleman,  who  had  lived  on  the  Indian  frontier,  or  in 
the  nation,  fur  ten  or  fifteen  years,  told  me  that  he  had 
often  been  surprised  that  the  Indians  always  detached  this 
sinew;  but  it  had  never  occurred  to  him  to  inquire  the  rea- 
son. 

My  half-breed  Choctaw  also  informed  me.  that  there  were 
tribes  or  tiimiiies  among  the  Indians,  somewhat  similar  to 
the  Scottish  clans ;  such  as,  the  Panther  Family,  the  Bird 
Family,  the  Racoon  Family,  the  Wolf  Family  :  he  belong- 
ed to  the  Racoon  Family,  but  his  children  to  the  family  of 
his  wife  ;  fuiniiies  being  perpetuated  in  the  female  line — an 
institution  originating,  perhaps,  in  polygamy.  By  mar- 
riage, the  husband  is  considered  as,  in  some  degree,  adopt- 
ed into  the  family  of  his  wife;  and  the  wife's  brothers  are 
regarded  as,  in  some  respects,  entitled  to  more  influence 
over  the  children  than  their  own  father.  The  suitor  al- 
ways consults  them  (sending  them  the  usual  propitiating  of- 
fering of  a  blanket)  when  he  wishes  to  marry  their  niece  ; 
and  if  they  approve,  the  father  consents  as  a  matter  oi' 
course.  I  have  since  had  this  confirmed  by  information 
from  many  different  sources. 

Those  of  the  same  family  or  clan  are  not  allowed  to  in- 
termarry ;  although  no  relationship,  however  remote,  can  be 
traced  between  them ;  and  although  the  ancestors  of  the  two 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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Sciences 
Coiporalion 


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parties  may  Iiave  been  living,  for  centuries,  iii  different  and 
distant  nations :  a  marriage  between  a  brother  and  a  sis- 
ter would  nut  excite  a  stronger  sensation,  or  be  more  loud- 
ly condemned.  Indeed,  wherever  any  of  the  family  or 
clan  meet,  they  recognise  one  another  as  brothers  and 
sisters ;  and  use  one  another's  houses,  though  personally 
strangers,  without  reserve. 

With  respect  to  the  religious  belief  of  the  Choctaws,  he 
said  that  it  is  a  prevailing  opinion  among  them  that  there  is 
a  Great  Spiritj  who  made  the  earth,  and  placed  them  on  it, 
and  who  preserves  them  in  their  hunting  journeys,  and 
gives  them  their  "  luck  in  life ;''  that,  however,  they  do  not 
often  think  of  Him — that  they  believe  that  all  who  die,  go 
to  the  Spirit  Country :  but  that  some  suppose  it  is  divided 
into  two  nations ;  the  one  abounding  in  fine  woods,  and 
de^l*,  and  buffaloes ;  and  the  other  destitute  of  both — that 
these  imagine,  that  when  the  spirit  of  bad  men  leaves  the 
body,  it  proceeds  on  the  same  road  as  that  of  good  men, 
till  the  road  forks,  when  it  takes  the  way  to  the  bad  coun- 
try, supposing  it  to  be  the  other — that  many  expect  a  great 
day,  when  the  world  will  be  burnt  and  made  over  again, 
far  pleasanter  than  it  is  now,  when  the  spirits  will  return 
from  the  spik.;  country  and  settle  again  upon  it;  atid  that 
near  the  place  where  they  were  buried,  will  be  their  future 
home.  He  here  pointed  to  a  sermon  book  which  he  re- 
ceived from  his  white  father  (for  he  can  read,)  and  said  the 
following  sentence  conveyed  the  opinion  of  many  Indians — 
"  Wheresoever  the  body  is  laid  till  the  resurrection,  thither, 
as  to  a  dwelling-house,  death  brings  us  home," — or,  as  an 
Indian  would  express  himself,  '*  the  Great  Fire  brings  us 
home." 

On  Sunday  evening,  two  poor  Indian  hunters  came  in, 
with  no  covering  but  a  little  blanket  round  their  loins.  Our 
host  immediately  lighted  his  pipe,  gave  two  or  three  puffs, 
and  passed  it  to  his  Indian  guests,  who  did  the  same  ;  when 
it  was  laid  down  again.  Their  tomahawks  were  so  made 
as  to  serve  as  pipes;  the  back  of  the  hatchet-head  having  a 
little  socket  attached  to  it,  and  the  handle  being  bored.  As 
soon  BF,  the  strangers  heard  that  I  was  "  a  British,"  they 
seemed  much  pleased  ;  and  indirectly  confirmed  what  I  had 
previously  heard,  both  in  the  Creek  and  Choctaw  nations, 
of  the  lingering  attachment  of  many  of  the  Indians  to  their 
ancient  allies. 

Before  the  hunters  arrived,  my  host  had  been  speaking 
on  the  subject ;  and  said  that  the  older  Indians  had  frequent- 


and 


•  > 


2Sl 

\y  inquired  ol'  liini,  where  tlieir  wiiiie  people  were  gone — ■ 
lliat  they  hud  fine  times  formerly,  when  their  white  people 
were  among  them,  who  used  to  give  them  handsome  pre- 
sents lor  nothing;  but  they  disappeared  suddenly,  and  no- 
body had  ever  seen  them  since :  "  however,  may-be  they'll 
come  again.''  He  said  that  many  large  districts  had  suf- 
fered severely,  espe«ially  during  ilie  late  war,  for  refusing- 
to  fight  against  the  British  ;  and  some  individuals  had  been 
put  to  death,  even  by  their  own  nation,  after  it  had  gone 
over  to  the  Americans. 

Our  hunters  mentioned  two  old  kings,  who  were  still  liv- 
ing, whose  lives  had  been  attempted  for  their  unshaken 
fidelity  to  the  English  ; — a  fidelity  which  induced  them  to 
decline  any  commission  under  the  American  government ; 
declaring  that  they  would  rather  die  in  their  huts,  than  se- 
parate themselves  from  their  old  friends,  though  they  might 
never  see  any  of  them  again.  They,  of  course,  have  been 
stripped  of  their  rank,  and  reduced  to  poverty.  One  of 
them  walked  to  New-Orleans,  whe.n  he  heard  that  the  Brit- 
ish were  approaching,  in  order  to  throw  himself  into  their 
camp ;  though  one  person  he  said  could  not  >'  do  much 
good."  He  reached  Lake  Pont  Chartrain  just  after  the 
battle,  and  returned  home  much  disappointed.  My  heart 
warmed  at  the  recital ;  and  if  I  might  have  consulted  my 
own  inclination,  my  course,  the  next  morning,  would  have 
been  to  their  dwellings,  100  or  150  miles  distant.  AH  I 
c  )uld  do  was,  to  send  them  a  little  tobacco,  which  I  had 
b  ought  with  me  to  conciliate  the  Indians ;  with  some  mes- 
sages, which  the  hunters  said,  would  delight  them  as  much 
as  if  they  expected  to  see  me  after  four  sleeps  (nights.) 

I  told  them  of  the  death  of  King  George ;  who,  among 
the  Choctaws,  is  often  spoke  of  with  a  degree  of  respect 
that  must  gratify  a  British  heart ;  although  enlightened  hu- 
manity forbids  us  to  wish  that  they  should  cherish  their 
former  feelings,  under  circumstances  which  must  render 
them  productive  only  of  disappointment. 

Our  hunters,  who  conversed  with  us  through  the  medium 
of  our  half-breed  host,  remained  till  late ;  an  Indian  never 
thinking  of  leaving  any  thing  that  he  is  interested  in,  mere- 
ly because  it  is  night,  as  they  have  no  fixed  engagements  to 
prevent  them  sleeping  wherever  they  please.  We  endea- 
voured to  obtain  one  of  them  for  a  guide  the  next  morning, 
as  our  track  was  a  lonely  one ;  but  he  had  hurt  his  foot. 

We  accordingly  set  out  alone,  very  early,  as  there  was  noi 
a  habitation  of  any  kind  for  the  distance  of  fifty  miles ; 


m 


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which  we  were  therelore  to  complete  in  the  day,  or  lie  lu 
the  woods ;  and  as  the  day  was  wet,  we  preferred  the  ibrmer. 
We  might  perhaps  have  felt  some  apprehension  also  of  wild 
beasts  on  such  an  unfrequented  road  ;  since,  although  we 
were  informed  that  wolves,  unless  nearly  famished,  are 
scared  by  the  scent  of  a  human  being,  a  hungry  panther  is 
sometimes  not  intimidated,  even  by  a  fire.  The  danger, 
however,  of  being  molested  is  extremely  small. 

Our  course,  the  whole  day,  was  along  an  Indian  path, 
about  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  broad,  through  woods 
which  protected  us  from  the  hot  sun,  when  it  gleamed  be- 
tween the  showers.  It  was  twice  crossed  by  hunter's  paths, 
a  lutle  narrower  than  itself;  and  we  were  admonished,  that 
if  we  deviated  into  these,  we  should  perhaps  come  to  no 
habitation  for  100  or  ISO  miles.  Cow-paths  which  had 
occasionally  misled  us,  particularly  in  the  swamps,  arc 
found  only  near  the  settlements  ;  or  it  would  have  been  un- 
wise to  venture  without  a  guide. 

We  arrived  safe  at  the  end  of  our  journey  about  sunset ; 
having  seen  only  two  Indian  hunters,  and  two  wolves,  in 
the  course  of  the  day.  I  suppose  our  imaginations  mag- 
nified these  wolves ;  as  they  appeared  larger  than  those 
which  we  had  occasionally  seen  in  the  shows.  They  were 
of  a  tawny  colour.  Rising  in  the  brushwood,  about  60 
yards  from  us,  they  made  tjwards  an  adjoining  swamp, 
leaving  us  well  pleased  with  the  direction  which  they  had 
taken. 

Chkkascm  Indians. 

Our  host,  that  night,  was  the  elder  brother  of  our  half- 
breed,  and  kept  a  stand  on  the  Kentucky  trace,  which  we 
here  regained.  The  shade  before  the  house  (for  in  this 
part  of  the  country  every  tolerable  house  or  cabin  has  a 
long  projecting  shade  on  the  east  and  west,  in  which  the 
family  generally  sit,  according  to  the  situation  of  the  sun) 
was  hung  with  saddles  and  bridles,  side-saddles,  with  smart 
scarlet  housings,  rifles,  shot-pouches,  powder-horns;  and 
deer,  bufTalO;  and  bear  skins.  Several  dogs  were  lying 
about,  and  a  herd  of  cattle  was  coming  up  to  be  milked. 
Near  the  house  were  some  cabins  for  the  negroes,  whom  we 
saw  working  in  the  Indian-corn  fields  at  a  little  distance. 

We  were  now  in  the  Chickasaw  nation  ;  but  the  descrip- 
tion is  applicable  to  the  better  houses  of  most  of  the  richer 
half-breeds,  both  among  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws. 
Our  host  was  wealthv;  and  within  about  GO  miles  from  this 


I       k 


'  \ 


I 


tiH'6 


larm,  and  witliiii  tl»e  Choctaw  line,  lie  liad  a  cow-pen,  witii 
several  hundred  head  of  cattle.  He  was  mild  and  dignified 
in  his  manner,  very  friendly,  but  spoke  little  English. 

We  slept  on  the  kitchen  floor,  but  could  not  obtain  even 
two  bear-skins;  our  host's  niece,  with  her  husband  and  fa- 
mily, having  come  to  her  uncle^s  to  be  nursed,  as  is  the  cus- 
tom when  indisposed.  When  we  went  in,  she  was  sitting 
up,  drest,  on  the  only  bed  in  the  kitchen ;  and  looked  very 
melancholy  with  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground.  When  ;i 
female  friend  came  in  and  sat  by  her,  however,  she  was 
merry  enough,  and  laughed  heartily,  perhaps  at  our  ex- 
pense. I  believe,  however,  this  would  be  an  unjust  suppo- 
sition, as  1  never  saw  more  civility  and  propriety  than 
au^ong  the  Indians.  The  females,  indeed,  are  distant;  but 
I  believe  it  is  not  the  custom  for  them  to  converse  even 
with  Indian  strangers,  till  some  time  after  they  have  met. 

One  of  our  horses  being  so  violently  ill  with  the  colic 
(here  a  very  frequent  and  dangerous  disease)  as  to  awaken 
us  all  with  his  doleful  groaning  in  the  night,  we  set  off  late 
the  following  day,  and  rode  slowly  about  26  miles.  We 
had  intended  to  reach  the  stand,  about  28  miles  distant ; 
but  night  came  on  so  suddenly  (for  in  this  latitude  there  is 
little  twilight)  thnt  we  could  not  find  our  way  through  a 
dangerous  swamp  which  intervened.  We  had  accordingly 
to  lie  out,  and  could  not  raise  a  fire  ;  though  we  seldom 
travelled  unprovided  with  tne  means  of  obtaining  a  light. 

As  we  were  riding  along  toward  sunset,  we  saw  many 
parties  of  Chickasaws  repairing  to  a  dance  and  ball-play. 
The  magnificence  of  their  dresses  exceeded  any  thing  that 
we  had  yet  seen  ;  and  the  profusion  of  silver  ornaments  was 
far  greater  than  among  the  Choctavvs.  Indeed  they  cut  a 
splendid  figure  as  they  galloped  through  the  woods. 

The  Chickasaws  generally  appeared  to  us  neater  in  their 
persons,  than  our  friends  the  Choctaws;  on  whom  I  mean 
no  reflection,  and  I  am  aware  that  our  opportunities  of  ob- 
servation were  too  limited,  to  justify  any  general  conclu- 
sion. The  Chickasaws  seem,  however,  to  expend  in  orna- 
ments, the  savings  and  annuity  of  which  the  Choctaws  ap- 
propriate a  largQ  proportion  to  their  farms  or  cattle.  Not 
that  the  Chickasaws  entirely  neglect  agriculture  or  pasto- 
ral labours ;  but  their  little  patches  are  worse  cultivated, 
and  their  herds  less  considerable.  I  was  informed  thai  they 
have  only  one  Chief;  while  the  Choctaws  are  divided  into 
three  districts,  under  different  Chiefs, 


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f  was  toid  that  tiicv  bury  their  dead  in  their  house*. 
While  getting  a  cup  of  coiTce  at  Amubee's,  a  full-blooded 
Chickasaw,  a  little  negro  girl,  the  only  person  about  the 
house  who  could  speak  English,  said,  "  Master's  wife  is  lying 
behind  you."  On  looking  round,  I  saw  nothing  but  a  bed  ; 
when  the  little  girl  told  me  to  look  under  it.  When  she 
observed  that  I  was  disjippoiuied  on  perceiving  nothing, 
she  said,  "  Mistress  is  buried  there;  but  don't  speak  loud, 
or  master  will  cry." 

We  set  off  early  on  the  25lh ;  and  breakfasted  at  an  In- 
dian's, whose  cabin  has  acquired  the  title  of  '*  the  dear 
house;"  a  distinction  well  deserved,  and  indicative  of  no 
common  merit  in  the  Indian  nation. 

Soon  after  breakfast  we  crossed  a  swamp,  which  had 
been  held  up  in  terrorem  before  us  for  some  days ;  and  took 
the  precaution  of  passing  it  in  company  with  some  gentle- 
men who  were  acquainted  with  its  intricacies.  Our  pru- 
dence, however,  was  unnecessary  ;  as  the  dry  weather  had 
rendered  it  far  less  difficult  and  troublesome,  than  several 
which  we  had  previously  crossed  alone.  In  winter,  it  muat 
be  almost  impassable  ;  and  one  of  our  companions  assured 
us,  that  he  had  to  swim  over  many  parts  of  it,  and  in  others 
to  plunge  up  to  the  saddle-skirls  in  mire  at  every  step. 
The  bottom  is  a  stiii  clay ;  and  horses  sometimes  stick  so 
fast  that  they  cannot  be  extricated,  but  are  left  to  die. 

Although  the  weather  for  some  days  had  been  remark- 
ably dry,  we  had  frequently  to  dismount  several  times  in  an 
hour,  to  drive  our  horses  through  creeks  and  stream^;, 
which  would  have  embarrassed  a  Leicestershire  Fen- 
hunter.  One  of  my  companions  told  me,  that  when  tra- 
velling the  route  last  spring;  he  had  to  swim  his  horse  seven 
times  in  the  course  of  a  mile,  and  as  frequently  to  unpack 
the  pack-horse  which  carried  his  provisions.  We  were 
more  fortunate,  and  our  journey  was  attended  with  little 
difficulty  or  fatigue. 

In  the  course  of  this  day's  ride,  we  crossed  the  last  wa- 
ters which  fall  into  the  Tombigbee ;  and  some  little  streams 
which  taking  an  opposite  direction,  empty  themselves  into 
the  Tennessee.  We  also  passed,  though  ^till  in  the  Indian 
nation,  the  boundary  line  between  the  Mississippi  and  Ala- 
bama. The  country  became  more  hilly  ;  and  we  were 
glad  to  exchange  our  muddy  streams  for  clear  pebbly 
brooks. 

At  night,  we  slept  in  the  woods ;  and  in  the  morning, 
crossed  Bear  Creek,  a  beautiAd  romantic  river.     A  few 


y-i 


2^0 


uiiios  t'urilier,  we  came  to  tlip  summit  of  a  liill,  Irom  wliicli 
we  had  an  extensive  view  of  the  country  below  us.  The 
surface  was  broken  into  lofty  ridf^es,  amon;^  which  a  river 
Wound  its  course  ;  and  the  mass  of  forest  which  lay  between 
"s  and  a  very  distant  horizon,  exhibited  no  trace  of  ani- 
mated existence,  but  a  solitary  cabin  and  one  patch  of  In- 
dian corn.  The  view  of  this  boundless  solitude  was  natu- 
rally a  sombre  one;  but,  to  us,  emerging  into  light  from 
the  recesses  of  thick  woods,  in  which  for  many  days,  our 
eyes  had  seldom  been  able  to  range  beyond  a  narrow  cir- 
cle of  a  few  hundred  yards,  it  imparted  sensations  of  cheer- 
fulness which  it  would  be  difficult  to  describe.  Not  that 
we  were  tired  of  the  wilderness.  The  fragrance  of  the 
woods,  which  enveloped  us  in  a  cool  shade,  and  the  melody 
of  their  warbling  tenants,  regaled  the  senses  with  a  perpe- 
tual tieast :  while  the  gambols  of  the  squirrels,  the  cooing 
of  the  doves,  the  variety  of  large  snakes  which  often  crossed 
our  path,  birds  with  the  richest  plumage  which  he  had  seen 
only  in  museums,  and,  above  all,  the  magnificent  forest- 
trees  which  here  attain  their  largest  growth — all  presented 
an  unfailing  succession  of  objects  to  interest  and  amuse  us. 
The  delicious  climate  also  of  the  state  of  Mississippi  gave 
to  the  morning  and  evening  hours  an  ethereal  charn), 
which  some  of  your  readers  will  understand  :  to  others,  no 
description  would  convey  any  definite  ideas,  where  the  re- 
ality would  make  a  faint  and  feeble  impression  : — 


n- 


Tliey  know  not  how  the  deep'ttinj  trees, 
Dark  glens,  and  shadowy  I'ocks,  can  please, 

The  morning  blnsh,  the  smile  of  even : 
A^'hat  trees,  and  lawns,  and  mountains  mean, 
Tlie  dying  gale,  the  breathing  scene. 

The  midnight  calm,  the  whispVing  heav'n. 


fe^ 


pebbly 


Besides,  there  is  something  so  soothing  in  the  retirement  oi 
these  vast  solitudes,  that  the  mind  is  at  first  unwilling  to 
be  disturbed  in  its  reveries,  and  to  awaken  from  the  deep, 
and  perhaps,  unprofitable  musings  into  which  it  has  suffered 
itself  to  be  lulled.  Yet  although  it  would  shrink  from  the 
glare  of  a  daylight  which  would  summon  it  to  its  ordina- 
ry cares  and  would  start  back  from  a  sudden  introduc- 
tion into  the  din  and  bustle  of  a  Jarring  world,  it  is  refreshed 
by  looking  abroad  on  the  face  of  nature,  and  is  delighted 
to  revive  its  sympathies  with  the  rational  creation,  of  which 
it  forms  a  part,  by  glancing  on  the  distant  confines  of  civil- 
ized life. 


q 


■ 


m 


I, 


i- 


2HU 

Towards  evening,  we  passed,  and  not  without  regret,  tlie 
Hne  which  separates  the  present  territory  of  the  Chickasaw 
nation,  from  their  last  cession  to  the  United  States. 

Cherokee  Indians. 

As  I  had  previously  learnt  that  my  journey  would  not  be 
extended  by  visiting  the  Missionary  Settlement  among  ihe 
Cherokees,  I  determined  to  take  Brainerd  in  my  way;  and 
proceeded  through  Alabama  and  East  Tennessee,  to  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  where  it  is  si- 
tuated. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  swell  your  pages  by  dwelling  on 
this  part  of  my  route,  interesting  as  it  was  to  myself:  I  will 
only  obhervo,  that,  in  passing  through  the  northern  part  of 
Alabama,  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  has  been  settled.  It  is  little  more  than  two  years 
since  these  public  lands  were  sold.  At  that  time  not  a  tree 
was  felled  ;  and  now  the  road  is  skirted  with  beautiful  fields 
of  cotton  and  Indian  corn,  from  80  to  120  miles  in  ex- 
tent. Whenever  I  inquired,  which  I  seldom  failed  to  do  as 
often  as  I  stopped.  I  found  tf"at  there  were  schools  and  op- 
portunities for  public  worship  within  a  convenient  distance. 
I  was  gratified  by  receiving  the  same  information  through- 
out East  Tennessee. 

In  passing  the  Cumberland,  Racoon,  and  Look-out 
MouQtains,  we  were  delighted  with  a  succession  of  roman- 
tic scenery — sometimes  exhibiting  the  extended  outline  of 
a  Highland  prospect ;  at  others,  presenting  many  of  the  in- 
teresting features  of  a  home  view,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Windermere  or  Keswick.  To  the  eye  of  an  Englishman, 
however,  the  woods  which  crown  the  summits  of  the  high- 
est mountains  in  this  part  of  America  do  not  compensate 
for  the  blooming  heath  and  naked  granite  of  his  rugged 
hills ;  nor  the  foliage  which  covers  the  valleys  with  a  heavy 
mantle  of  dark  green,  for  the  white  cottages  and  yellow 
corn-fields,  the  smiling  meadows,  and  the  flocks  and  herds, 
which  diversify  and  animate  his  native  vale. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains  we  slept  in  a 
solitary  hut,  where  we  found  a  neat  old  woman,  of  70  or  80 
years  of  age,  very  busily  engaged  in  spinning.  A  young 
clergyman,  who  had  been  visiting  Brainerd,  was  also  driv- 
en in  by  heavy  rain  ;  and  his  offers  to  conduct  family  wor- 
ship were  thankfully  accepted  by  our  hostess  and  her  son. 

We  reached  Brainerd  early  on  the  1st  of  June,  and  re- 
mained till  the  following  morning.     The  manner  of  pro- 


V-\ii         I 


needing  was  so  similnr  to  that  at  Elliot,  that  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  <lcsrrihe  it.  Indeed,  this  institution  was  originally 
formed  by  some  of  the  missionaries,  who  afterward  went  on 
to  establish  the  settlement  at  Elliot. 

The  number  of  Cherokee  children  amounted  to  about  80; 
and,  in  addition  to  these,  were  two  little  Osage  Indians, 
who  had  been  rescued  from  captivity  by  benevolent  inter- 
ference. One  of  them  was  a  little  girl,  whose  owner,  at  the 
time  she  was  found,  was  carrying  the  scalps  of  her  father 
and  mother.  He  was  induced  to  part  with  her  for  about 
30/.  generously  advanced  for  her  ransom  by  a  lady  at  New- 
Orleans.  Her  simple  tale  of  suHerings  was  a  long  and  me- 
lancholy one.  and  the  little  boy's  constitution  was  nearly 
broken  by  ill  usage. 

I  was  informed  here,  that  many  of  the  Indians  evinced, 
at  Hrst,  an  indisposition  to  labour  in  the  field,  especially  as 
the  females  were  entirely  exempted  from  the  task  :  but  they 
soon  acquiesced ;  and  exhibited,  on  this  occasion,  the  do- 
cility and  good  humour,  of  which  their  teachers  (perhaps 
with  excusable  partiality)  represent  them  as  possessing  a 
more  than  common  share.  One  of  the  chiefs  oflered  to  find 
a  slave  who  should  work  all  day,  if  the  missionaries  would 
excuse  his  son  from  agricultural  labour  between  school- 
hours  ;  but  he  was  easily  convinced  of  his  mistake,  and  apo- 
logized for  his  ill-judged  request. 

1  was  much  gratified  by  hearing  the  children  sing  their 
Cherokee  hymns :  and  many  ancient  prophecies  came  for- 
cibly to  my  recollection,  when  joining,  in  this  Indian  coun- 
try,'with  Americans,  Indians,  and  Africans,  in  singing  the 
following  verse  of  one  of  our  hymns — 

Let  every  nation,  every  tribe, 

On  this  terrestrial  ball. 
To  Viim  full  inajcsty  ascribe. 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 

Some  Negroes  attended  family  prayer ;  and  many  come 
from  a  considerable  distance  to  public  worship,  on  Sunday. 
I  was  told,  indeed,  that  there  were  instances  of  their  walk- 
ing 20  miles  over  the  mountains,  and  returning  the  same 

day- 

What  animation  would  an  occasional  glance  at  Elliot  or 

Brainerd  infuse  into  our  missionary  committees  !  and  how 

cheering  to  many  a  pious  collector  of  one  shilling  per  week, 

would  be  the  sight  of  her  Indian  sisters,  rescued  from  their 

degradediicondition,  and  instructed  in  the  school  of  Christ ! 

What,  though  we  are  but  the  hewers  of  wood  or  drawers  of 


ii 


>ii> 


i6h 


(>, 


ft 


» 
if 


'•,1 


fiJ    1^ 


waier  tor  our  more  honoured  and  enterprising  brethren, 
our  humble  labours,  feeble  and  desultory  as  they  nre,  and 
ever  nttended  by  imperfections  by  which  their  eHicieney  is 
much  impaired,  are  stdl  a  link  in  the  chain  of  Innnan  agen- 
fy't  hy  which  *iod  is  pleased  to  accompliiih  his  purposes  of 
mercy  to  a  fallen  world. 

With  respect  to  the  degree  in  which  the  efforts  of  the 
missionaries  have  already  been  sueces'ful.  in  reference  to 
the  spiritual  interests  o(  their  heathen  brethren,  they  do 
not  expect  the  harvest,  when  only  beginning  to  break  up 
the  soil.  They  are  aware,  also,  that,  in  a  subject  in  which 
their  hopes  and  fears  are  so  sensibly  alive,  they  are  in  dan- 
ger of  being  misled  by  very  equivocal  symptoms:  and 
even  where  they  believe  that  they  discern  the  fairest  pro- 
mise, tdey  shrink  from  the  idea  of  blazoning  forth  to  the 
world,  as  decisive  evidence  of  conversion,  every  favourable 
indication  of  a  change  of  heart.  Still,  however,  even  in 
this  respect,  and  at  this  early  stage  of  their  exertions, 
they  have  the  gratification  of  believing  that  their  labour 
has  not  been  in  vain. 

Soon  after  leaving  Brainerd,  I  crossed  the  river  Tennes- 
see,  which  here  forms  the  boundary  of  the  Cherokee  nation. 

Reflections  on  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  Indians. 

I  now  bade  a  last  adieu  to  Indian  territory ;  and  as  I 
pursued  my  solitary  ride  through  the  woods,  I  insensibly 
fell  into  a  train  of  melancholy  reflections  on  the  eventful 
history  of  this  injured  race. 

Sovereigns,  from  time  immemorial,  of  the  interminable 
forests  which  overshadow  this  vast  continent,  they  have 
gradually  been  driven,  by  the  white  usurpers  of  their  soil, 
within  the  limits  of  their  present  precarious  possessions. 
One  after  another  of  their  favourite  rivers  has  been  reluct- 
antly abandoned,  until  the  range  of  the  hunter  is  bounded 
by  lines  prescribed  by  his  invader,  and  the  independence 
of  the  warrior  is  no  more.  Even  their  present  territory  is 
partitioned  out  in  reversion ;  and  intersected  with  the  pros- 
pective boundaries  of  surrounding  states,  which  appear  in 
the  maps,  as  if  Indian  title  were  actually  extinguished,  and 
these  ancient  warriors  were  already  driven  from  the  land  of 
their  fathers. 

Of  the  innumerable  tribes,  which  a  few  centuries  since, 
roamed  fearless  and  independent,  in  their  nativa  forests, 
how  many  have  been  swept  into  oblivion,  and  al%  with  the 
generations  before  the  flood !    Of  others,  not  a  trace  re- 


2BU 

iiiuins  but  in  tradition,  or  in  the  person  of  soiiif  solitary 
wanderer,  lie  last  of  his  tribe,  wlio  hovers  like  a  ghost 
among  the  sepulchres  of  his  fathers — a  spark  still  faintly 
gliinniering  in  the  ashes  of  an  extinguished  race. 

From  this  gloomy  review  of  the  past  history  of  these  in- 
jured  tribes,  it  was  refreshing  to  turn  to  their  future  pros- 
pects ;  and  to  contemplate  those  missionary  labours,  which, 
under  the  blessing  of  God,  are  arresting  the  progress  of 
that  silent  waste,  by  which  they  were  fading  rapidly  from 
the  map  of  nations.  Partial  success,  indeed,  had  follow- 
ed the  occasional  efforts  of  the  American  Government  for 
the  civilization  of  the  Indians,  but  it  was  reserved  for  the 
perseverance  of  disinterested  christian  love,  to  prove,  to  the 
world  at  large,  the  practicability  of  an  undertaking  which 
had  often  been  abandoned  in  despair. 

Moral  obstacles,  which  had  bid  defiance  to  worldly 
policy  or  interested  enterprise,  are  yielding  to  a  simple 
confidence  in  the  promises  of  God,  and  a  faithful  compli- 
ance with  the  divine  commands — "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Christians  of 
different  denominations,  are  sending  labourers  to  the  task  ; 
and  it  is  animating,  indeed,  to  contemplete  the  United 
States — in  the  name,  as  it  were,  and  as  the  representative  of 
the  various  nations  who  have  participated  in  the  wrongs 
inflicted  on  this  injured  race — preparing  to  offer  the  noblest 
compensation  in  their  power,  and  to  diffuse  the  gospel 
throughout  the  aborigines  of  this  western  world. 

And,  surely,  if  any  arguments  were  necessary  in  support 
of  missions,  in  addition  to  those  derived  from  the  force  of 
divine  commands,  and  the  suggestions  of  diffusive  charity, 
we  should  find  them  in  the  history  of  the  early  intercourse 
of  christian  Europe  with  Asia,  Africa,  and  America.  Or 
if,  viewing  the  wide  range  and  growing  energies  of  British 
missions,  a  deep  sense  of  our  defective  efforts  should  at  any 
time  be  insufficient  to  repress  every  feeling  of  self-compla- 
cence, we  have  but  to  recollect  how  large  a  portion  of  the 
past  labours  of  our  missionaries  has  been  consumed,  in 
eradicating  the  vicious  habits  which  we  have  introduced 
into  some  heathen  nations,  or  in  dispelling  the  prejudices 
which  our  inconsistent  conduct  has  diffused  through  others. 

It  is  not  in  our  naval,  our  military,  or  our  commercial 
character,  that  we  have  as  yet  appeared  generally  as  a  bless- 
ing to  benighted  nations.  It  is  not  when  we  press  into 
the  wars  of  christians,  the  tomahawk  or  scalping-knife  of 
the  Indians — it  is  not  when,  deluging  his  country  with  spi- 

37 


1 


IM' 


h 


4/ 


(I. 


)  ' 


^'}l 


2yo 

vitous  liuuors  in  the  prosecutioi.  f  an  unequal  truHic,  w^ 
send  fortnm  moral  pestilence,  before  which  the  frail  virtues 
of  the  savage  fall,  like  the  dry  leaves  of  his  forests  in  the 
blasts  of  autumn — it  is  not  when  thus  engaged,  that  we 
either  conciliate  his  affections,  or  elevate  his  moral  tone. 
The  men  who  fertilize  the  moral  wilderness  and  evangelize 
the  heathen  world,  are  animated  by  a  higher  spirit  than 
the  desire  of  conquest,  or  the  lure  of  gain — by  the  spirit  of 
our  Mursdens,  our  Careys,  our  Buchanans,  and  our  Henry 
Martins.  These  are  the  men,  who  at  once  the  benefactors 
of  their  species  and  the  representatives  of  christian  Britain, 
secure  for  their  native  country  the  veneration  of  far  distant 
tribes,  while  preaching  on  their  mountains  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation,  or  filling  their  valleys  with  hymns  of  praise. 

The  time,  I  hope,  will  come,  when  not  our  missionaries 
only,  but  our  naval  and  military  commanders,  our  soldiers, 
our  sailors,  and  our  merchants,  will  all  carry  with  them  to 
every  country  where  they  hoist  the  British  flag,  unequivocal 
demonstrations  that  they  come  from  a  christian  land  ;  and  it 
is  animating  indeed,  to  regard  our  colonial  establishments, 
our  extended  commerce,  and  our  vast  marine,  as  instru- 
ments, in  the  hands  of  Providence,  to  prepare  paths  for  our 
missionaries,  and  to  observe  that  sacred  cause  in  which  they 
count  not  even  their  lives  dear. 

In  that  cause,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  be  neutral.  The 
question  of  missions  is  now  brought  home  to  every  breast ; 
and  the  influence  of  individual  opinion  on  the  social  and 
domestic  circle,  carries  into  the  most  retired  situations  an 
awful  responsibility,  as  to  the  decisions  which  may  be  form- 
ed, and  the  sentiments  which  may  be  expressed,  on  a  sub- 
ject so  deeply  afl'ecting  the  highest  interests  of  the  human 
race. 


' 


-*  f- 


:u  I 


LKTTER 

to 

i\r.  JEAN-BAPTISTESAV, 

On  the  Comparative  Expense  of  Free  and  Slave  Lnbunr. 


Sir, 
It  is  with  much  concern  that  I  observe,  in  your  excellent 
and  popular  work  on  Political  Economy,  the  sentiments 
you  express  on  the  subject  of  tlie  comparative  expense  of 
free  and  slave  labour.  Accustomed  to  respect  you  higlily 
as  an  enlightened  advocate  of  liberal  principles,  and  to  ad- 
mire the  philanthropic  spirit  which  pervades  your  writings, 
I  cannot  but  regret  deeply,  that  opinions  so  calculated  to 
perpetuate  slavery,  should  have  the  sanction  of  your  authori- 
ty; and  that  while  you  denounce  the  slave  system  as  un- 
justifiable, you  admit,  that,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  it 
may  be  the  most  profitable. 

As  this  subject  is  of  peculiar  importance  at  the  present 
moment,  when  efforts  are  making  both  in  this  country  and 
in  France,  to  eflect  the  gradual  abolition  of  sluvecy  in  tl.f 
Colonies,  I  will  not  apologize  for  addressing  you.  The 
same  regard  to  truth  and  candour,  which  secured  your  re- 
luctant assent  to  an  opinion,  little  in  unison,  1  am  sure,  with 
your  feelings,  will  lead  you  to  examine,  with  impartiality, 
any  facts  or  arguments  which  I  may  adduce  in  my  attempt 
to  controvert  it.  Many  of  them,  I  am  aware,  must  be 
familiar  to  you,  but  possibly  even  these  may  appear  in  a 
new  light,  and  derive  some  additional  force,  from  their 
connexion  with  others  which  have  not  fallen  under  your 
observation. 

The  expense  of  slave-labour  resolves  itself  into  the  an- 
nual sum,  which,  in  the  average  term  of  the  productive 
years  of  a  slave's  life,  will  liquidate  the  cost  of  purchase  or 
rearing,  and  support  in  old  age,  if  he  attain  it,  with  interest, 
and  the  sum  annually  expended  in  his  maintenance. 

If  we  omit  the  case  of  purchased  slaves,  and  s»ippose 


4 


11 


292 


;l! 


h 


M 


them  to  be  bred  on  the  estate,  (and  as  breeding  is  now 
admitted  to  be,  under  ordinary  circumstance!^,  the  cheapest 
mode  of  supply,  your  argument  will  gain  b*/  iit'ii  supposi- 
tion,) the  expense  of  free  labour  will  resolve  itself  into  pre- 
cisely the  same  elements,  since  the  wages  pp;;d  tu  free  la- 
bourers of  every  kind,  must  be  such  as  to  enable  them,  one 
with  another,  to  bring  up  a  family,  and  continue  their 
race. 

Now  it  is  observed  by  Adam  Smith,  "*  The  wear  and 
tear  of  a  free  servant,  is  equally  at  the  expense  of  his  mas- 
ter, and  it  generally  costs  him  much  less  than  that  of  a 
slave.  The  fund  destined  for  replacing  and  repairing,  if 
1  may  say  so,  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  slave,  is  commonly 
managed  by  a  negligent  master,  or  careless  overseer. 
That  destined  for  performing  the  same  office  with  regard  to 
the  freeman,  is  managed  by  the  freeman  himself.  The 
disorders  which  generally  prevail  in  the  economy  of  the 
rich,  naturally  introduce  themselves  into  the  management 
of  the  former;  the  strict  frugality  and  parsim^^'^ious  atten- 
tion of  the  poor,  as  naturally  establish  themselves  in  that 
of  the  latter.''  The  Russian  political  economist,  Storch, 
who  had  carefully  examined  the  system  of  slavery  in  that 
extensive  empire,  makes  the  same  remark  almost  in  the 
same  words.  Hume  expresses  a  similar  opinion  in  decided 
terms;  and  I  have  now  before  me  a  statement  from  one  of 
the  slave  districts  in  the  United  States,  in  which  it  is  esti- 
mated that,  taking  the  purchase-money  or  the  expense  of 
rearing  a  slave,  with  the  cost  of  his  maintenance,  at  their 
actual  rates,  and  allowing  fifteen  years  of  health  and 
strength,  during  which  to  liquidate  the  first  cost,  his  labour 
will  be  at  least  25  per  cent,  dearer  than  that  of  the  free 
labourer  in  the  neighbouring  districts. 

It  is  observed  by  a  planter,  in  a  letter  published  by  the 
Hon.  Joshua  Steele,  a  member  of  the  council  in  Barbadoes, 
under  the  signature  of  Philo  Xylon  ; ''  The  truth  is,  that 
although  we  plant  much  more  ground  than  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  produce  provisions  to  feed  our  labouring  slaves, 
yet  the  negroes,  feeling  that  they  have  no  direct  property 
in  these  crops,  and  that  we  must  buy  more  to  supply  them 
if  those  crops  fall  short,  the  cultivation  is  negligently  per- 
formed by  them,  and  the  produce  is  afterwards  stolen  by 
the  Negro  watchmen  or  their  confederates,  so  that  we  sel- 
dom reap  a  third  part  of  what  should  be  the  natural  and 
probable  produce.  But  if  we  could  depend  on  their  dili- 
gence and  economy,  in  cultivating  rented  tenements,  and 


their 
r  and 


by  the 
badoes, 
is,  that 
)e  suffi- 

slaves, 
roperty 
y  them 
tly  per- 
>len  by 

we  sel- 
ral  and 
eir  dili- 
its,  and 


carefully  storing  their  crops,  they  might  undoubtedly  be 
maintained  better  than  they  are,  and  at  a  much  smaller  ex- 
pense than  it  costs  us  at  present ;  not  only  by  our  wasting 
three  times  as  much  land  as  might  be  necessary  for  that 
purpose,  but  also  by  our  cultivating  it  with  a  reluctant 
gang  to  our  loss.'^  From  inqul/ies  made  with  reference 
to  this  subject,  it  appears  that  the  average  weekly  expense 
in  the  Liverpool  Workhouse,  for  provisions,  including  ale, 
wine,  spirits,  tea,  sugar,  butter,  &ic.  given  to  the  sick,  is 
2s  6id  per  head,  exclusive  of  rent;  while  the  average 
weekly  expenditure  of  seven  families,  taken  from  among 
the  labourers  of  a  respectable  commercial  house,  is  only 
Is  5id  per  head,  exclusive  of  rent. 

From  the  preceding  particulars,  it  appears  highly  proba- 
ble, that  the  cost  of  rearing  and  maintaining  a  slave, 
would  render  his  labour,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  at 
least  as  expensive  as  that  of  the  free  labourer.  Let  us 
next  examine  which  is  the  most  productive. 

And  here  I  shall  again  avail  myself  of  the  observations 
of  Storch,  the  Russian  economist :  "  As  the  slave  is  always 
labouring  for  another,  and  not  for  himself;  as  he  is  re- 
stricted  to  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  and  sees  no  prospect 
of  bettering  his  condition,  he  loses  every  characteristic 
of  the  effective  labourer :  he  becomes  a  machine,  and  often 
a  machine  very  stubborn  and  difficult  to  manage.  A  man 
who  is  not  paid  in  prcportion  to  the  labour  he  performs, 
will  perform  as  little  as  he  can.  This  is  an  acknowledged 
truth,  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  every  day.  Let  a 
free  labourer  work  by  the  day,  and  he  will  be  indolent ; 
pay  him  by  the  piece,  and  he  will  often  exert  himself  to  the 
ruin  of  his  health.  If  this  observation  is  just  with  respect 
to  the  free  labourer,  it  is  infinitely  more  so  in  relation  to 
the  slave. 

As  long  as  the  ancient  Romans  cultivated  their  fields 
with  their  own  hands,  Italy  was  famed  for  its  fertility  and 
abundant  produce  ;  but  agriculture  declined  as  soon  as  it 
was  left  to  the  slaves :  then,  instead  of  cultivating  their 
lands,  they  turned  them  into  pastures,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  this  delightful  country  became  dependent  upon  foreign 
provinces  for  subsistence.  The  petty  landholders  and 
farmers  disappeared  :  and  the  very  country  that  had  once 
presented  the  smiling  aspect  of  a  multitude  of  villages, 
peopled  with  men  free  and  happy,  became  one  vast  solitude, 
in  which  were  scattered,  here  and  there,  a  few  magnificent 
palaces,  that  formed  the  most  striking  contrast  with  the 


^1^ 


f' 


'■  ii 


204 

miserable  cabins  and  subterranean  cells  which  containeci 
their  slaves.  These  facts,  related  by  the  Roman  historians, 
are  attempted  and  explained  by  Pliny,  Columella,  and 
Varro.  "  What  was  the  cause  of  these  abundant  harvests  ?" 
says  Pliny,  in  speaking  of  the  early  times' of  the  republic. 
"  It  was  this — that  men  of  rank  employed  themselves  in 
the  culture  of  the  fields ;  whereas  now  it  is  left  to  wretches 
loaded  with  fetters,  who  carry  in  their  countenances  the 
shameful  evidence  of  their  slavery."  That  free  labourers 
are  superior  to  slaves,  is  granted  even  by  masters  them- 
selves, when  they  have  intelligence  enough  to  perceive  the 
difference,  and  candour  enough  to  acknowledge  it.  Call 
to  mind  on  this  subject,  the  passage  of  Columella*  that  I 
have  quoted  below,  in  which  he  depicts  the  negligence  and 
reluctance  of  si  /^-labourers.  In  the  same  chapter,  this 
author  lays  it  down  as  a  fund'imental  principle,  that,  what- 
ever be  the  species  of  culture,  the  labour  of  a  free  man  is 
always  preferable  to  that  of  a  slave.  Pliny  is  of  the  same 
opinion. 

•*  Observe  that  these  testimonies  in  favour  of  free  labour, 
are  rendered  by  Romans,  by  men  who  held  slaves,  and 
who  were  the  greatest  agriculturalists  of  their  time."  "■  In 
manufactures,  the  superiority  of  the  free  labourer  over  the 
slave,  is  still  more  perceptible  than  in  the  culiivaiiun  of 
lands."  "  The  more  manufactures  extend  in  Russia,  the 
more  this  truth  continues  to  be  felt.  In  1806,  M.  Pante- 
leyef,  the  agent  of  a  cloth  manufactory,  in  the  district  of 
Moscow,  set  at  liberty  all  his  slave-labourers,  the  number 
of  whom  amounted  to  84.  The  same  year  M.  Milioutin 
did  the  same." 

Brougham  in  his  Colonial  Policy  fully  concurs  in  these 
sentiments :  ''  It  requires  very  little  argument  to  prove, 
that  the  quantity  of  work  which  may  be  obtained  from  a 
labourer  or  drudge,  is  liable  to  be  affected  as  much  by  the 

*  *'  Complaints  as  to  the  negligent  and  Traudulent  conduct  of  slavc!<, 
are  as  ancient  as  slavery  itself:  read,  for  examplf,  what  Coluraell.t 
says  of  those  of  his  times.  *  Maxima  vi-xant  servi,  qui  boves  elocant, 
eosdemque  t>t  cEetra*'  pecora  mal^  pascurit,  nee  industrid  terram  ver- 
tunt,  lon^^que  plus  imputant  seminis  jacti,  quam  quod  screrint: 
sed  nee  quod  terrae  mandaverint,  sic  adjuvant  ut  rt-cte  proveniat ; 
idque  cum  in  arcam  contulerunt,  per  trituram  quotidie  minuunt,  vel 
fraude  vei  negligentia.  Nam  et  ipsi  diripiunt,  et  ab  aliis  furibus  non 
custodiunt.  Sed  nee  conditum  cum  fide  rationibus  inferunt.'  f 
have  often  heard  the  same  complaints  from  the  mouths  of  Livonian 
land-holders,  and  one  may  hear  them  constantly  repeated  in  tho 
West-Indies,  III  Hungary,  and  in  the  interior  of  Russia." 


295 


r,  this 
what- 


rom  a 
by  the 


injurious  treatment  he  receives,  as  by  the  idleness  in  which 
he  may  be  permitted  to  indulge.  VVhen  this  drudge  is  a 
slave,  no  motive  but  fear  can  operate  on  his  diligence  and 
attention.  A  constant  inspection  is  therefore  absolutely 
necessary,  and  a  perpetual  terror  of  the  lash  is  the  only 
prevention  of  indolence.  But  there  are  certain  bounds 
prescribed,  even  to  the  power  of  the  lash  ;  it  may  force 
the  unhappy  victim  to  move,  because  the  line  of  distinction 
between  motion  and  rr^t,  action  and  repose,  is  definite; 
but  no  punishment  can  compel  the  labourer  to  strenuous 
exertions,  because  there  is  no  measure  or  standard  of  acti- 
vity. A  state  of  despair,  and  not  of  industry,  is  the  never- 
failing  consequence  of  severe  chastisement ;  and  the  con- 
stant repetition  of  the  torture  only  serves  to  blunt  the  sensi- 
bility of  the  nerves,  and  disarm  punishment  of  its  terrors. 
The  body  is  injured,  and  the  mind  becomes  as  little  willing 
as  the  limbs  are  able  to  exert." 

Hume  remarks,  "1  shall  add  from  the  experience  of  our 
planters,  that  slavery  is  as  little  advantageous  to  the  master 
as  to  the  man.  The  fear  of  punishment  will  never  draw  so 
much  labour  from  the  slave,  as  the  dread  of  being  turned 
off,  and  not  getting  another  service,  will  give  a  freeman." 

Koster,  in  his  travels  in  the  Frazils,  observes,  "The 
slave-trade  is  impolitic  on  the  broad  principle,  that  a  man 
in  a  state  of  bondage,  will  not  be  so  serviceable  to  the  com- 
munity as  one  who  acts  for  himself,  and  whose  whole  ex- 
ertions are  directed  to  the  advancement  of  his  own  fortune; 
the  creation  of  which,  by  regular  means,  adds  to  the  gene-' 
ral  prosperity  of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs.  This 
undoubted  and  indisputable  fact,  must  be  still  more  strong- 
ly impressed  on  the  mind  of  every  one  who  has  been  in 
the  habit  of  seeing  the  manner  in  which  slaves  perform 
their  daily  labour.  Their  indifference,  and  the  extreme 
slowness  of  every  movement,  plainly  points  out  the  trilling 
interest  which  they  have,  in  the  advancement  of  the  work. 
I  have  watched  two  parties  labouring  in  the  same  field,  one 
of  free  persons,  the  other  of  slaves,  which  occasionally, 
though  very  seldom,  occurs.  The  former  are  singing, 
joking,  and  laughing,  and  are  always  actively  turning 
hand  and  foot ;  whilst  the  latter  are  silent,  and  if  they  are 
viewed  from  a  little  distance,  their  movementfi  are  scarcely 
to  be  perceived." 

Hall,  adverting  to  the  pernicious  effects  of  slavery  on  the 
southern  states  of  North  America,  observes,  "  Experience 
shows,  that  the  quantity  of  labour  performed  by  slaves,  is 
much  below  that  of  an  equal  number  of  free  cultivators." 


Ifj 


■ii>*i 


fv 


m' 


290 

An  intelligent  American  gentleman,  to  whom  queries  on 
this  subject  were  sent  out,  remarks,  *'  I  have  in  one  of  my 
answers,  exposed  the  effect  of  slave-cultivation  on  the  soil  of 
our  country,  and  on  the  value  of  real  estate.  1  will  here 
further  observe,  that  independently  of  this,  there  is  no  fact 
more  certainly  believed  by  every  sound  mind  in  this  coun- 
try, than  that  slave-labour  is  Hbstractedly  in  itself,  as  it  re- 
gards us,  a  great  deal  dearer  than  labour  performed  by  free 
men  ;  this  is  susceptible  of  clear  proofi.'^ 

It  is  observed  by  Mr.  Ramsay,  who  had  twenty  years^ 
experience  in  the  West  Indies,  *'  I  am  firmly  of  opinion, 
that  a  sugar  plantation  might  be  cultivated  to  more  advan- 
tage, and  at  much  less  expense,  by  labourers  who  were  free 
men,  than  by  slaves.  Dr.  Dickson,  who  resided  in  Barba- 
does  as  secretary  to  the  late  Hon.  Edward  Hay,  the  Go- 
vernor of  that  island,  observes  in  a  letter  published  in  his 
valuable  work  on  the  Mitigation  of  Slavery,  "  You  need 
not  be  informed,  that  it  has  been  known  for  many  ages  by 
men  of  reflection,  that  the  labour  of  slaves,  whether  bought 
or  bred,  though  apparently  cheaper,  is  really  far  dearer  in 
general  than  that  of  free  men.''  The  arguments  which  sup- 
port this  conclusion,  as  applicable  to  modern  colonial  slave- 
ry, were  long  ago  assented  to  and  exemplified  by  men  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  and  interested  in  the  subject.''  In 
another  letter  in  the  same  work,  he  gives  *'  a  calculation 
made  under  the  guidance  of  M.  Coulomb,  an  able  mathe- 
matician and  experienced  engineer,  who  for  many  years 
conducted  extensive  military  works  both  in  France  and  the 
West  Indies,  and  who  has  published  the  result  of  his  obser- 
vations.'' From  this  he  infers,  "  that  field  slaves  do  only 
between  a  third  and  a  half  of  the  work  dispatched  by  reluc- 
tant French  soldiers,  and  probably  not  more  than  a  third 
of  what  those  very  slaves  would  do,  if  urged  by  their  own 
interest,  instead  of  brute  force,  as  Mr.  Steele  experienced." 
In  speaking  of  Mr.  Steele's  experience,  in  another  place  he 
remarks,  "  He  has  ascertained  as  a  fact,  what  was  before 
known'  tb  the  learned  as  a  theory,  and  to  practical  men  as 
a  paradox,  That  the  paying  of  slaves  for  their  labour,  does 
actually  produce  a  very  great  profit  to  their  owners.''^  Again, 
this  able  and  experienced  writer  observes,  "  The  planters 
do  not  take  the  right  way  to  make  human  beings  put  forth 
their  strength.  They  apply  main  force  where  they  should 
apply  moral  motives,  and  punishments  alone,  where  rewards 
should  be  judiciously  intermixed.  And  yet,  strange  to  tell, 
those  very  men  affirm,  and  aflirm  truly,  that  a  slave  will  do 


297 


more  work  fof^iimselfin  an  afternoon,  than  lie  can  be  made 
to  do  for  his  owner  in  a  whole  day  or  more.  Now  what  is 
the  plain  inference?  Mr.  Steele,  thongh  a  stranger  in  the 
West  Indies,  saw  it  at  once,  and  resolved  to  turn  it  to  ac- 
count. He  saw  that  the  negroes,  like  all  other  human  be- 
ings, were  to  be  stimulated  to  permanent  exertion  only  by 
a  sense  of  their  own  interests,  in  providing  for  their  own 
wants  and  those  of  their  oiTspring.  He  therefore  tried  re- 
wards, which  immediately  roused  the  most  indolent  to  ex- 
ertion. His  experiments  ended  in  regular  wages,  which 
the  industry  he  had  excited  among  his  whole  gang,  enabled 
him  to  pay.  Here  was  a  natural,  efficient,  and  profitable 
reciprocity  of  interests.  His  people  became  contented  ;  his 
mind  was  freed  from  that  perpetual  vexation,  and  that  load 
of  anxiety,  which  are  inseparable  from  the  vulgar  system, 
and  in  "  little  better  than  four  years,  the  annual  nett  clearance 
of  his  property  was  more  than  tripled." 

'■''  I  must  additionally  refer,''  remarks  the  same  intelligent 
writer  in  another  place,  '■'■  to  an  excellent  pamphlet,  enti- 
tled Observations  on  Slavery,  (published  in  1788,  and  now 
out  of  print,)  by  my  late  worthy  friend  Dr.  James  Ander- 
son, who  shows  that  the  labour  of  a  West  India  slave  costs 
about  thrice  as  much  as  it  would  cost,  if  executed  by  a  free- 
man. Taking  another  case,  he  demonstrates  that  the  la- 
bour of  certain  colliers  in  3<^otland,  who,  till  our  own  times 
were  subjected  to  a  mild  kind  of  vassalage,  regulated  by 
law,  was  twice  as  dear  as  that  of  the  freemen  who  wrought 
other  coal- mines,  in  the  same  country,  and  thrice  as  dear 
as  common  day  labour.'' 

I  think  we  might  safely  infer,  from  the  preceding  parti- 
culars, that  under  ordinary  circumstances  the  labour  of  free 
men  is  cheaper  than  that  of  slaves ;  but  there  are  many 
other  considerations  which  strongly  confirm  this  conclusion. 

If  slave  labour  were  cheaper  than  free  labour,  we  should 
naturally  expect  that,  in  a  state  where  slavery  was  allowed, 
land,  ceteris  paribus^  would  be  most  valuable  in  the  dis- 
tricts where  that  system  prevailed  ;  and  that  in  two  adjoin- 
ing states,  in  the  one  of  which  slavery  was  allowed,  and  in 
the  other  prohibited,  land  would  be  least  valuable  in  the  lat- 
ter ;  but  the  contrary  is  notoriously  the  fact.  In  a  late 
communication  from  America  on  this  subject,  from  an  in- 
telligent observer,  it  is  remarked  :  "  The  system  of  slave 
cultivation,  as  practised  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
has  likewise  a  most  destructive  efTect  on  the  soil  of  our  coun- 
try.    The  state  of  Maryland,   though  a  slave  state,  has 

3fi 


208 


if' 


if! 

If  >  ;:     J*- 


roinparatively  but  few  slaves  in  the  upper  Mr  western  part 
of  it ',  the  land  in  this  upper  district  is  generally  more  bro- 
ken by  hills  and  stones,  and  is  not  so  fertile  as  that  on  the 
southern  and  eastern  parts.  The  latter  has  also  the  advan- 
tage of  being  situated  upon  the  navigable  rivers  that  flow 
into  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  its  produrc  can  be  convey- 
ed to  market  at  one-third  of  the  average  expense  of  that 
from  the  upper  parts  of  the  state ;  yet.  with  all  these  ad- 
vantages of  soil,  situation,  and  climate,  the  land  within  the 
slave  district  will  not.  upon  a  general  average,  sell  for  half 
as*niuch  per  acre  as  that  in  the  upper  districts,  which  is  cul- 
tivated principally  by  freemen.  This  fact  uiay  be  also 
further  and  more  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  comparative 
value  of  land  within  the  states  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylva- 
nia, the  one  lying  on  the  south,  and  the  other  on  the  north 
side  of  Maryland  ;  the  one  a  slave,  the  other  a  free  state.  In 
Virginia,  land  of  the  same  natural  soil  and  local  advan- 
tages, will  not  sell  for  one-third  as  high  a  price  as  the  same 
doscription  of  land  will  command  in  Pennsylvania.  This 
single,  plain,  incontrovertible  fact,  speaks  volumes  upon  the 
rfliUive  value  of  slave  and  free  labour,  and  it  is  presumed 
renders  any  further  illustration  unnecessary." 

It'  slave  labour  wire  cheaper  than  free  labour,  we  might 
fairly  infer  that,  in  a  stare  in  which  slavery  was  allowed, 
free  labour  would  be  reduced  by  competition  to  a  level  with 
the  labour  of  slaves,  and  not  slave  labour  to  a  level  witii  the 
labour  of  freemen  ;  and  that  in  two  adjoining  states,  in  the 
one  of  which  slavery  was  allowed,  and  in  the  other  prohi- 
bited, labour  would  be  highest,  rcnteris  paribus,  in  that  in 
which  slavery  was  proscribed.  But  experience  proves  the 
reverse.  Storch  observes,  that  those  who  hire  slaves  in 
Russia,  are  obliged  to  pay  more  than  they  who  hire  free- 
u)en,  *^  Unless  they  live  in  a  place  where  the  competition  of 
free  labourers  reduces  the  hire  of  slaves  and  the  wages  of 
freemen  to  a  level :  both  the  interior  of  Russia,  and  the  ca- 
pitals of  that  empire,  furnish  proofs  of  this  assertion.  In 
the  cities,  the  competition  of  free  labourers  is  greater ;  for 
though  wages  there  may  be  very  high,  the  hire  of  slaves  is, 
notwithstanding,  less  than  in  the  interior  ;"  that  is,  that  in 
Russia,  slave  labour,  where  slave  labour  is  the  lowest,  is 
higher  than  free  labour,  where  free  labour  is  the  highest, 
until  reduced  to  the  same  level  by  competition  with  it.  When 
in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  in  the  winter  of  1820, 1  was  told,  that 
many  slaves  gave  their  masters  $2,  or  9s  per  week,  forper- 
mi:ssion  to  work  for  themselves,  and  retain  the  surplus.     I 


Iji  .  ■» 


290 


also  found,  that  the  common  wages  of  slaves  who  are  hired, 
were  20s  3d  per  week  and  their  food,  at  liie  very  time  when 
(lour  was  4  dollars,  or  18s  per  barrel  of  196lhs.,  and  beef 
and  mutton  3d  to  4d  per  lb.  Tive  days  afterwards,  in 
travelling  through  the  rich  agricultural  districts  of  the  free 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  I  found  able-bodied  wiiite  men  will- 
ing to  work  for  their  food  only.  This,  indeed,  was  in  the 
winter  months,  and  during  a  period  of  extraordinary  pres- 
sure. I  was  told,  however,  that  the  average  agricultural 
wages  in  this  free  state  were  five  or  six  dollars  per  month, 
and  food  ;  while,  in  Norfolk,  at  the  time  I  allude  to,  thf?y 
were  eighteen  dollars  per  month,  and  food.  If  it  should  be 
replied,  that,  in  the  town  of  Norfolk,  wages  were  likely  to 
be  much  higher  than  in  the  country,  1  would  ask,  why  they 
are  not  so  in  the  principal  towns  of  Russia  P 

Jf  slave  labour  were  cheaper  than  free  labour,  we  should 
naturally  expect  to  find  it  employed  in  the  cultivation  of 
those  articles,  in  which  extended  competition  had  reduced 
profits  to  the  lowest  point.  On  the  contrary,  however,  we 
find  that  slave  labour  is  gradually  exterminated  when 
brought  into  competition  with  free  labour,  except  where  le- 
gislative protection,  or  pec^liari}y  of  soil  and  climate,  es- 
tablish such  a  monopoly  as  to  admit  of  an  expensive  sys- 
tem of  management.  The  cultivation  of  indigo  by  slaves 
in  Carolina,  has  been  abandoned,  and  the  price  of  cotton 
reduced  one-half,  since  these  articles  have  had  to  compete 
in  the  European  markets  with  the  productions  of  free  la- 
bour; and,  notwithstanding  an  additional  duty  on  East  In- 
dia sugar,  of  10s  per  cwt.,  and  a  transportation  of  three 
times  the  distance,  the  West-India  planters  are  beyond  all 
doubt  reduced  to  very  great  distress,  and  declare  that  they 
shall  be  ruined,  if  sugar  from  the  East  Indies  shall  be  ad- 
mitted on  the  same  terms  as  from  the  West. 

If  slave  labour  were  cheaper  than  free  labour,  we  might 
reasonably  infer,  that,  in  proportion  as  the  circumsian<  es 
of  the  cultivators  rendered  economy  indispensable,  either 
from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  slaves,  or  other  causes,  tlie 
peculiar  features  of  slavery  would  be  more  firmly  estubliah- 
ed,  and  that  every  approach  to  freedom  wouhl  be  more  se- 
dulously shunned  in  the  system  of  culture.  But  it  is  found 
by  the  experience  of  both  ancient  and  modern  times,  that 
nothing  has  tended  more  to  nssimilate  the  condition  of  the 
slave  to  that  of  the  free  labourer,  or  actually  to  effect  his 
emancipation,  than  the  necessity  imposed  by  circumstances 
of  adopting  the  most  economical  mode  of  cultivation. 


(i;i 


'i» 


i 


3U0 


in-' 


'*■  In  ancient  times,"  says  Brougham,  "  a  great  part  ot 
the  population  of  the  most  polished  states,  was  the  personal 
property  of  the  rest.  These  slaves  were  chiefly  captives, 
taken  directly  in  war,  or  purchased  from  other  warlike  na- 
tions, who  had  obtained  them  in  this  way.  The  constant 
hostilities  which  at  that  time  divided  the  people  of  all  coun- 
tries, rendered  this  a  very  fruitful  source  of  supply.  Dur- 
ing the  rise  of  Athens  and  Rome,  accordingly,  when  many 
foreign  nations  were  by  rapid  steps  conquered,  and  when 
others,  still  unsubdued,  could  sell  the  persons  of  their  weak- 
er neighbours,  there  was  never  any  scarcity  of  men  in  the 
great  slave-markets.  The  cruelty  of  the  treatment  which 
those  unhappy  men  experienced,  was  proportioned  to  the 
ease  with  which  they  were  procured  ;  and  we  have  already 
remarked,  how  intolerable  their  lot  was,  among  the  very 
people  who  called  every  foreigner  a  barbarian.  As  war 
became  less  common,  and  the  arts  of  peace  were  more  cul- 
tivated, this  supply  of  slaves,  of  course,  decreased ;  and 
when  the  Roman  Empire,  tottering  under  its  own  weight, 
could  think  of  nothing  less  than  new  conquests,  there  was 
an  end  of  importing  slaves.  Accordingly,  with  the  pro- 
gress of  real  civilization,  but  syll  more  with  the  diminution 
of  wars  and  conquests,  was  introduced  a  milder  system  of 
domestic  government,  a  greater  humanity  towards  the 
slaves,  and  a  more  careful  attention  to  breeding,  when  the 
stock  could  neither  be  kept  up  nor  increased  by  other 
means.  The  laws  added  their  sanctior  to  this  salutary 
change,  which  no  laws  could  of  themselves  have  wrought. 
The  rights  of  slaves  came  to  be  recognised,  the  conduct  of 
the  master  to  be  watched,  and  the  practice  of  emancipation 
to  be  encouraged.  By  degrees,  the  slaves  were  incorporat- 
ed with  their  masters,  and  formed  part  of  the  great  free  po- 
pulation, which  was  rather  mixed  with  than  subdued  by 
the  Goths. 

"  To  the  slavery  of  the  ancients,  succeeded  the  bondage 
and  villanage  of  their  Gothic  conquerors.  But  the  differ- 
ence between  the  two  was  marked  and  important.  The 
Gt'eek  and  Roman  slaves  were  imported  ;  the  Gothic  slaves 
were  the  peasantry  of  the  country,  and  born  on  the  spot, 
unless  during  the  wars  which  accompanied  the  first  inroads 
of  the  northern  tribes.  Accordingly,  we  find  no  parallel 
between  the  rigour  of  the  ancient  and  of  the  modern  slave 
system ;  and  a  foundation  was  laid  in  this  essential  differ- 
ence, for  a  much  more  rapid  improvement  of  the  whole 
society,  than  took  place  in  Greece  or  Rome,  notwithstand- 


301 


trig  the  superior  refinement  of  the  classic  times.  The 
slave  first  became  attached  to  his  master,  not  as  his  per- 
sonal property,  but  as  a  part  of  his  stock,  and  astricted  to 
the  soil,  to  use  the  language  of  the  feudal  ages.  By  de- 
grees, the  mutual  interests  of  the  lord  and  his  villains,  in 
the  progress  of  national  improvement,  operated  that  im- 
portant change  in  the  state  of  manners,  out  of  which  the 
modern  division  of  ranks,  and  the  privileges  of  the  lower 
orders,  have  arisen  in  the  civilized  quarters  of  the  Euro- 
pean community.  First,  the  villain  obtained  the  use  of 
the  land  to  which  he  had  been  annexed,  and  of  the  stock 
in  which  he  had  been  comprehended,  on  condition  that  a 
certain  proportion  (generally  one-half)  of  the  produce 
should  belong  to  the  lord  of  the  land,  and  proprietor  of 
the  stock.  This  great  change,  one  of  the  most  signal  of 
those  events  which  have  laid  the  foundation  of  human  im- 
provement, by  degrees  too  slow  for  the  observation  of  his- 
torians, was  owing  entirely  to  the  master  discovering,  how 
much  his  interest  was  connected  with  the  comfort  of  his 
slaves  ;  how  necessary  it  was  to  treat  well  that  race  whose 
toils  supported  the  community  'a  ease,  and  whose  loss 
could  not  be  repaired  ;  how  much  more  profitable  it  was  to 
divide  with  the  vassal  the  fruits  of  his  free  and  strenuous 
exertions,  than  to  monopolize  the  scanty  produce  of  his 
compulsory  toil.  As  soon  as  the  right  of  property,  and 
the  secure  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  labour,  were  extend* 
ed  to  the  vassals,  the  progress  of  improvement  became 
constant  and  visible.  The  proportion  of  the  fruits  paid  to 
the  lord,  was  diminished  according  to  an  indefinite  stand- 
ard ;  the  peasant,  having  been  permitted  to  acquire  pro- 
perty, provided  his  own  stock,  and  obtained  the  power  of 
changing  his  residence,  and  commuting  the  nature  of  his 
service.  By  degrees,  the  rent  came  to  be  paid  in  money, 
according  to  the  number  of  competitors  for  a  farm ;  and 
they  who  could  not  farm  land  themselves,  sold  their  labour 
to  others  for  a  certain  price,  or  maintenance.  Lastly,  the 
legislature  secured  the  lease  of  the  farmer  with  the  same  cer- 
tainty with  which  it  secured  the  property  of  the  landlord, 
and  recognised  the  one  as  well  as  the  other  for  useful  and 
independent  subjects.'' 

"  A  similar  progress  will  most  probably  be  the  result  of 
that  abolition,  the  supposition  of  which  we  are  indulging — 
the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade.  That  tliis  idea  is  not 
chimerical,  the  consideration  of  a  few  facts,  very  little 
known  in  the  history  of  America,  may  convince  us.'' 


fi' 


303 


u..% 


**  The  peculiar  rirnimstnnces  in  tiie  ftitMRtinn  ol'  tli*- 
Spanish  nnd  Portuguese  colonies  of  South  America,  have 
already  partially  operated  some  of  those  happy  effects 
which  we  may  expect  from  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade. 
The  high  price  of  the  negroes  in  the  Spanish  settlements, 
partly  from  absurd  regulations  of  trade,  p.trtly  from  the  de- 
ficiency of  the  Spaniards  in  the  practice  of  commerce  and 
naval  affairs,  causes  that  want  of  hands,  which  would  pre- 
vail in  its  full  extent,  were  the  African  trade  slopi.  From 
these  circumstances,  and  partly,  no  floubt,  from  the  pecu- 
liarly indolent  character  of  the  colonists  in  those  parts, 
there  has  arisen  a  much  better  sysfrm  of  treaiiru  iit  than 
any  other  European  colonies  can  boast  of.  Other  views 
of  interest  have  conspired  to  ronfirm  and  extend  tiiis  sys- 
tem of  mildness  and  equity  towards  the  slaves;  and  the 
legislature  has  not  failed,  by  evvry  prudent  interference,  to 
assist  the  inferior  race  in  the  acquisition  of  rights  and  privi- 
leges." 

"  Thus  we  meet  wi<h  many  very  singular  analogies,  be- 
tween the  history  of  the  negroes  in  South  America,  and 
that  of  the  villains  or  bondsmen  of  Europe,  in  the  earlier 
feudal  times.  All  the  gold  and  jewels  in  Brazil  have,  for 
many  years,  been  collected,  according  to  the  same  plan 
that  the  feudal  lords  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  quickening 
the  industry  of  their  vassals.  The  master  supplies  the 
slave  daily  with  a  certain  quantity  of  provisions  and  tools, 
and  the  slave  is  obliged  tf>  return  a  certain  quantity  of  gold 
or  jewels,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ground.  Every 
thing  that  remiiins  over  this  ration,  the  negro  keeps  him- 
self, were  the  balance  to  be  millions.  The  gold-mines  of 
Popayan  and  Choro,  in  Spanish  America,  are  wrought  in 
the  very  same  way.  The  finest  pearl  fisheries  in  South 
America,  those  of  Panama  for  example,  are  in  the  hands 
of  negro  tenants,  as  it  were.  These  are  bound  to  give  a 
certain  number  of  pearls  every  week.  The  negroes  in  the 
towns  are  allowed  to  hire  themselves  out  to  services  of  dif- 
ferent kinds,  on  condition  of  returning  to  their  masters  a 
certain  portion  of  their  wages ;  the  rest  they  may  spend  or 
hoard  up  for  their  own  use." 

"  After  a  slave  has,  in  any  of  these  various  ways,  acquired 
properly,  he  endeavours  to  purchast'  his  freedom.  If  the 
master  is  exorbitant  w.  his  demands,  he  may  apply  to  a 
magistrate,  who  appoints  sworn  appraisers,  to  fix  the  price 
at  which  the  slave  shall  be  allowed  to  buy  his  freedom. 
Even  daring  his  slavery,  the  behaviour  of  the  master  to- 


•JO.i 


Krom 
le  pecu- 
(larts, 


pquired 

If  the 

]y  to  a 

le  price 

edoin. 


wards  liim  is  strictly  wntched  ;  lie  mny  complain  to  the  tna- 
gistiate,  and  ubtaiii  rtjdress,  whicii  frenfrally  consists  in  a 
decree,  obli^in^  the  ni:tster  to  sell  him  at  a  certain  rate. 
The  conse(|uences  of  all  t'lese  laws  and  customs  are  ex- 
iremt-ly  liencfiiial  to  (lit;  S^rniish  and  Portnp;nese  power  in 
America.  While  the  sslaws  are  Ciithlid  and  Inliorious,  the 
free  negroes  are  numerons.  and  in  f^eneral  nnich  more  quiet, 
n^eful,  and  industrious,  than  in  the  oilier  colonies.  Most 
of  the  ariiiicers  are  of  this  class  ;  and  some  of  the  best 
troops  in  the  New  World  are  composed  entirely  of  negroes, 
who,  by  their  own  labour  and  frugality,  have  acqijired  their 
liberty.'" 

"  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  the  striking  analogy 
between  the  state  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  negroes, 
and  that  of  the  European  bondshien,  at  a  certain  period  of 
their  progress  towards  liberty.     We  find  the  same  gentle- 
ness of  treaimeiit,  the  same   protection  from  the  laws,  the 
same  acknowledgments  of  rights,  the  same  power  of  acquir- 
ing property,  granted  to  the  American  slave,   which  pre- 
pared the  complete  emancipation  of  the  European  vassal. 
In   some  particulars  we  observe  another  step  of  the  same 
progress  ;  for  in  many    parts  the  negroes  are  precisely  in 
the  situation  of  the  coloni  partiarii,  or  metayers,  of  the  feu- 
dal times.     In  one  respect  the  negro  is  even  in  a  more  fa- 
vourable situation  :  his  reddendo,  (if  I  may  use  the  expres- 
sion,) is  fixed  and  definite  ;  all  the  overplus  of  his  industry 
belongs  to  himself.     The  metayer  was  bound  to  divideevery 
gain  with  his  lord.     The  former,  tiien,  has  a  much  stronger 
incentive  to  industry  than  the  latter  had      As  this  diffe- 
rence, however,  ari.-^es,  not  from  the  progress  of  society,  but 
from  the  nature  of  the  returns  themselves,  easily  concealed, 
and  with  ditiiculty   procured  ;  so,   in  some  other  respects, 
the  negro  is  not  in  so  favourable  circumstances.     But  the 
great  steps  of  the  process  of  improvement  are  materially  the 
same  in  both  cases.     Both  have  in  common  the  great  points 
of  a  bargain   between  the  master  and  the  slave ;  privileges 
possessed  by  the  slave  independent  of,  nay  in  opposition  to, 
his  master ;  the  rights  of  property  enjoved   by   the  slave, 
and  the  power  of  purchasing  his  freedom  at  a  jnst  price. 
This  resemblance,  in  circumstances  so  important,  may  fair- 
ly be  expected  to  render  the  progress  of  the  two  orders  al- 
so similar.     In  the  negro,  as  in  the  feudal  system,  we  may 
look  for  the  consequences  of  those  great  improvements  in 
voluntary  industry,  more  productive  labour,  and  the  miti- 


i 


>1 


1>i 


111 
I  1 


JU4 


gutiun  and  iiiiat  abolition  of  slavery,  when  the  slave  shall 
have  been  gradually  prep»red  to  become  a  free  subject. 

"  Some  of  the  good  efft'cts  that  have  flowed  from  the  na- 
tional character,  and  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  Span- 
ish and  Portuguese,  have  been  produced  also  in  Dutch 
America,  by  that  great  competition  of  capitals,  and  those 
complicated  ditHculties,  which  lay  the  Dutch  colonies  under 
the  necessity  of  attending  to  the  smallest  savings.  If,  from 
this  source,  combined  with  the  facility  of  importation,  has 
arisen  a  cruelty  unknown  in  other  colonies,  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  a  compensation  for  the  evil  is  not  aflford- 
ed  by  another  effect  of  the  same  circumstances  : — the  gene- 
ral introduction  of  task  work,  which  the  keen-sighted  spirit 
of  a  necessary  avarice  has  taught  the  planter  of  Dutch 
Guiana  to  view  as  the  most  profitable  manner  of  working 
his  slaves.  Nothing,  indeed,  can  conduce  more  immediate- 
ly to  the  excitement  of  industry,  than  the  introduction  of 
task-work.  It  seems  the  natural  and  easy  transition  from 
labour  to  industry  :  it  forms  in  the  mind  of  the  slave,  those 
habits  which  are  necessary  for  the  character  of  the  free- 
man :  it  thus  prepares  him  for  enjoying,  by  a  gradual 
change,  those  rights  and  privileges  which  belong  to  free- 
dom." 

Of  that  modification  of  slavery,  under  which  the  slave 
pays  a  tax  or  tribute  to  his  master  for  permission  to  work 
on  his  own  account,  and  to  which  such  important  effects  are 
ascribed  in  the  preceding  extracts,  Storch  observes,  *'  This 
modification  of  slavery,  has  been  permitted  by  different  na- 
tions ;  but  I  doubt  whether  it  ever  existed  any  where  to  that 
extent  in  which  it  is  found  in  Russia.  It  is  there  one  of 
the  most  effectual  means  of  softening  the  direful  conse- 
quences of  slavery  :  and  if  its  abolition  should  ever  be  se- 
riously intended,  this  system  would  present  the  means,  the 
most  simple,  and  the  least  subject  to  inconveniences.''  Now 
it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  stronger  proof  of  the  paralyz- 
ing influence  of  slavery  on  human  exertion,  than  the  bene- 
ficial results  which  have  followed  the  substitution  in  its 
place  of  a  system  so  oppressive  as  even  this  mitigated  form 
of  bondage  is  represented  to  be  by  intelligent  travellers. 
Mr.  Heber  remarks,  ^'  The  peasants  belonging  to  the  no- 
bles in  Russia,  have  their  abrock  raised  by  their  means  of 
getting  money.  It  then  becomes  not  a  rent  of  land,  but  a 
downright  tax  upon  their  industry.  Each  male  peasant  is 
obliged  by  law  to  labour  three  days  in  each  week  for  bis 
proprietor.    If  the  proprietor  chooses  to  employ  him  the 


ao5 


otli(>r  iluysi,  he  may  ;  as.  for  iiistniice,  in  a  manufactory, 
but  he  then  fiiiiis  him  in  foud  and  clotliing.  If  a  slave  ex- 
ercises any  trade  which  brin^;!»  him  in  more  money  than 
agricultural  labour,  he  pays  a  higher  abrock.  The  pea- 
sants employed  as*  drivers  at  the  post-houses,  pay  an  abrock 
out  of  the  drink-money  they  receive  for  being  permitted  to 
drive ;  as  otherwise,  the  master  tnight  employ  ihem  in  other 
less  profitable  labour,  on  his  own  account.     Somctinies  they 

{»ay  an  abrock  for  permission  to  beg."  *'  In  despite,"  says 
)r.  Clarke,*'  of  all  the  pretended  regulations  made  in  favour 
of  the  peasant,  the  tax  he  is  called  upon  to  pay  on  the  la- 
bour he  is  compelled  to  bestow,  depends  wholly  on  the  ca- 
price of  his  tyrant." 

Task-work,  another  important  although  earlier  step  in 
the  progress  from  slavery  to  freedom,  than  a  participation 
of  earnini^s  with  a  master,  and  another  instance  of  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  ciieaper  for  a  more  expensive  system  of  culti- 
vation, I  found  to  be  almost  universal  in  the  Atlantic  States 
of  America,  where  tobacco,  cotton,  and  rice,  are  the  staple 
articles  of  production ;  but  I  never  heard  of  an  instance  of 
it  in  the  sugar  plantations  of  Louisiana,  where  great  profits 
render  economy  less  necessary. 

If  slave  labour  were  cheaper  than  free  labour,  we  might 
confidently  presume  that  estates  would  be  rendered  less 
productive  than  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  which  culti- 
vated them ;  but  the  presumption  is  contradicted  by  expe- 
rience. "  A  few  Polish  nobles,  (observes  Cox«  in  his  tra- 
vels in  Poland,)  of  benevolent  hearts,  and  enlightened  un- 
derstandings, have  acted  upon  ditTerent  principles,  and  have 
ventured  upon  the  expedient  of  giving  liberty  to  their  vas- 
sals. The  event  has  shown  this  to  be  no  less  judicious  than 
humane,  no  less  friendly  to  their  own  interests  than  to  the 
happiness  of  the  peasants ;  for  it  appears  that  in  the  dis- 
tricts in  which  the  new  arrangement  has  been  introduced, 
the  population  of  their  villages  has  been  considerably  in- 
creased, and  the  revenues  of  their  estates  augmented  in  a 
triple  proportion.  The  first  noble  who  granted  freedom  to 
his  peasants,  was  Zamoiski,  formerly  great  chancellor,  who, 
in  1761,  enfranchised  six  villages,  in  the  palatinate  of  Ma- 
sorin.  In  1777,  the  receipts  of  this  particular  district  were 
nearly  triple ;  and  Zamoiski,  pleased  with  the  thriving  state 
of  the  six  villages,  has  enfranchised  the  peasants  on  all  his 
estates.  • 

The  example  of  Zamoiski  has  been  followed  by  Chrep- 
towit/,   Vice-Chancellor  of  Lithuania,  and  the  Abbe  Bry- 

39 


^1 

^1 


\ 


m 
I 


JOG 

Kolowski,  with  similar  success.  Prince  Stanislaus,  the  king 
of  Poland,  has  warmly  patronised  the  plan  of  giving  liber- 
ty to  the  peasants.  He  has  enfranchised  four  villages  not 
far  from  Warsaw,  in  which  he  has  not  only  emancipated  the 
peasants  from  their  slavery,  but  even  condescends  to  direct 
their  affairs.  He  explained  to  me  in  the  most  satisfactory 
manner,  that  the  grant  of  freedom  was  no  less  advantage- 
ous to  the  lord  than  to  the  peasant,  provided  the  former  is 
willing  to  superintend  their  conduct  for  a  few  years,  and  to 
put  them  in  the  way  '^f  acting  for  themselves.  He  intends 
giving  the  public  a  particular  account  of  his  arrangements, 
and  will  show  how  much  he  has  increased  the  value  of  his 
estate,  as  well  as  the  happiness  of  his  peasants." 

If,  then,  it  has  appeared  that  we  should  be  naturally  led 
to  infer,  from  the  very  constitution  of  human  nature,  that 
slave  labour  is  more  expensive  than  the  labour  of  freemen  ; 
if  it  has  appeared  that  such  has  been  the  opinion  of  the 
most  eminent  philosophers  and  enlightened  travellers  in  dif- 
ferent ages  and  countries  ;  if  it  has  appeared  that  in  a  state 
where  slavery  is  allowed,  land  is  the  most  valuable  in  those 
districts  where  the  slave  system  prevails  the  least,  notwith- 
standing great  disadvantages  of  locality  ;  and  that  in  ad- 
joining states,  with  precisely  the  same  soil  and  rlimate,  in 
the  one  of  which  slavery  is  allowed,  and  in  the  other  prohi- 
bited, land  is  the  most  valuable  in  that  state  in  wliich  it  is 
proscribed  ;  tf  it  has  appeared  that  slave  labour  has  never 
been  able  to' maintain  its  ground  in  competition  with  free 
labour,  except  where  monopoly  has  secured  high  profits, 
or  prohibitory  duties  afforded  artificial  support;  if  it  has 
appeared  that,  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  in  proportion 
as  the  circumstances  of  the  planter  rendered  attention  to 
economy  more  indispensable,  the  harsher  features  of  the 
slave-system  have  disappeared,  and  the  condition  of  the 
slave  has  been  gradually  assimilated  to  that  of  the  free  la- 
bourer;  and  if  it  has  appeared  that  the  mitrgation  of  slave- 
ry has  been  found  by  experience  to  substitute  the  alacrity 
of  voluntary  labour,  for  the  reluctance  of  compulsory  toil ; 
and  that  emancipation  has  rendered  the  estates  on  which  it 
has  taken  place,  greatly  and  rapidly  more  productive — I 
need  not,  1  think,  adduce  additional  proofs  of  the  truth  of 
the  general  position,  that  slave  labour  is  more  expensive 
than  the  labour  ol  freemen. 

And  nere  perhaps  I  might  safely  leave  the  question  ;  yet 
since  your  arguments,  although  of  a  general  nature,  and  not 
restricted  in  their  application  to  any  peculiarity  of  circum- 


.-!(* 


"'^ 


:iO: 


*        Vr 


li 


stances  or  situation,  seem  to  be  derived  from  a  somewhat 
partial  view  of  the  state  of  things  in  the  West  Indies,  I  shall 
proceed  to  examine  whether  they  afford  any  presumptioD 
that  those  islands  present  an  exception  to  the  general  rule. 

The  comparison  which  yon  have  made  between  the  price 
of  slaves  and  free  labour  in  the  Antilles,  appears  to  me  by 
no  means  to  warrant  the  conclusion  you  have  drawn  from 
it.  Where  the  proportion  of  free  labourers  is  extremely 
small,  and  labour  is  rendered  degrading,  or  at  least  disre- 
putable, by  being  confined  principally  to  slaves,  it  is  natu- 
ral that  the  wages  of  free  labour  should  be  high;  and  the 
question  is  not,  whether  at  a  given  time  and  place,  free  or 
slave  labour  is  the  highest,  but  whether  both  are  not 
higher  than  labour  would  be  if  all  the  community  were 
free,  and  the  principle  of  population  were  allowed  *.o  pro- 
duce its  natural  eHecton  the  price  of  labour,  by  maintaining 
the  supply  and  competition  of  free  labourers. 

The  other  argument  which  you  adduce,  appears  to  me 
equally  inconclusive.  You  observe,  that. '^  the  obstinac}' 
with  which  the  planters  defend  slavery,  is  of  itself  sufficient 
to  prove  that  it  is  advantageous  to  them." 

And  does  man,  indeed,  then,  always  act  with  an  enlight- 
ened view  to  self-interest  ?  Is  he  uniformly  vigilant  to  ob- 
serve, and  prompt  to  pursue  his  real  good,  however  remote, 
and  requiring  whatever  sacrifices  of  present  ease  and  grati- 
ficatinn  ?  Does  prejudice  or  passion  never  blind  or  mislead 
him .''  nor  habit  render  him  slow  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his 
belter  Judgment  r  The  conversion  of  the  slaves  in  the  colonies 
into  free  labourers,  must  be  a  very  gradual  work,  demanding 
much  patience  and  assiduity, — involving,  possibly,  some 
present  risk,  and  requiring,  it  may  be,  lor  its  complete  suc- 
cess, the  consentaneous  efforts  of  the  planters.  And  is  such 
a  task  likely  to  be  undertaken  spontaneously,  by  the  body 
of  West  India  proprietors  whose  roucerns  are  managed  by 
hired  overseers  ?  who  consider  their  capital  as  invested,  if 
not  in  a  lottery,  at  least  rather  in  a  ujercantile  speculation, 
from  which  it  is  speedily  to  be  disengaged,  than  in  landed 
property,  which  is  to  descend  with  all  its  improveaients,  to 
their  children's  children.''  Is  not  the  whole  history  of  colo- 
nial cultivation  ;  is  not  the  long  and  violent  opposition  of 
the  planters  to  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  ;  is  not  the 
reluctance  they  evinced  to  breed,  instead  of  purchase  their 
slaves,  when  the  latter  plan  was  so  notoriot^sly  the  most  ex- 
pensive ;  is  not  their  unwillingness  to  adopt  the  enlightened 
and  profitable  suggestions  of  their  able  counsellor  and  ex- 


I 


M 


I 


—^■[«*i^j:S^%^ 


:^^> 


308 


■k 


'  -^I'j'J! 


perienced  associate,  **  The  Prolessional  Planter ;''  are  not 
all  these  irrefragable  proofs,  that  the  practice  of  a  planter, 
like  that  of  other  men,  ma}'  be  at  variance  with  his  interest, 
especially  if  in  unison  with  his  prejudices  and  his  inclina- 
tions r*  If  you  should  require  additional  evidence,  I  refer 
you  to  Brougham's  Colonial  Policy,  v»  here  the  fact  is  il- 
lustrated and  explained,  in  language  somewhat  less  court- 
eous indeed,  than  I  am  willing  to  adopt,  but  with  the  usual 
force  and  ability  of  that  powerful  w riter. 

Ganilh  expresses  his  surprise,  that  an  author  so  intelli- 
gent as  yourself,  and  so  well  acquainted  with  the  progress 
of  society  in  Europe,  should  maintain  the  general  position, 
that  slave  labour  is  cheaper  than  the  labour  of  freemen ; 
but  he  insinuates  some  doubt,  whether  the  position  may  not 
be  true  when  applied  to  the  colonics.  He  gives  no  reasons, 
however,  for  this  idea,  ('for  he  scarcely  offers  it  as  an  opi- 
nion,) which  do  not  apply  with  the  same  force  and  propriety 
to  the  European  system  ;  and  after  a  careful  examination 
of  his  argument,  lean  really  discern  as  little  connexion 
between  the  principles  he  lays  down,  and  the  inference  he 
seems  disposed  to  deduce  from  them,  as  between  the  so- 
lemn and  repeated  declarations  of  France,  that  she  has. 
bonajide^  abolished  the  slave  trade,  and  her  extension  of 
this  traffic,  in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  to  the  very  utmost  limits 
of  which  her  capital  will  admit. 

He  observes,  "  as  soon,  therefore,  as  education  has 
formed  man  for  a  particular  mode  of  living,  it  is  the  height 
of  imprudence  to  impose  upon  a  freeman,  all  at  once,  the 
ideas,  the  feelings,  and  the  inclinations  of  a  slave ;  or.  upon  a 
slave,  the  ideas,  feelings,  and  inclinations  of  a  freeman.  In 
this  respect,  although  it  appears  to  us  evident,  that  the  labour 
of  a  freeman  is  more  profitable  than  that  of  the  slave,  perhaps 
it  is  equally  true  of  the  colonial  system,  as  it  now  exists, 
that  the  labour  of  the  slave  is  more  profitable  than  that  of 
the  freeman."  Now  this  argument  against  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  West  Indies,  applies  equally  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  every  where ;  or  rather,  it  is  applicable,  only 
to  sudden  emancipation  any  where.  "  By  educating  a  man 
as  a  slave,  you  unfit  him  for  freedom."  Educate  him  then, 
as  a  freeman,  and  you  unfit  him  for  slavery.  If  the  pre- 
sent generation  of  the  West  India  slaves,  are  so  tainted  with 
the  poison  of  slavery,  that  their  moral  constitutions  cannot 
be  regenerated,  guard  the  next  generation  from  the  malig- 
nant influence  of  this  viscious  system,  and  you  supply  the 
islands  with  more  productive  labourers,  agreeably  to  Ga- 
nilh's  own  admission. 


,^.--  ..Jtjm^; 


309 


If  he  had  founded  his  exception  of  the  Colonies  from 
the  operation  of  the  general  principle,  that  the  labour  of 
freemen  is  cheaper  than  that  of  slaves,  on  some  radical  dis- 
tinction between  the  European  and  the  African  race,  or 
between  European  and  Colonial  bondage,  his  argument 
would  have  been  intelligible  at  least,  if  not  conclusive. 
But  he  asserts,  and  1  think  most  justly,  *'that  the  nature  of 
man — white,  yellow,  or  black,  is  every  where  the  same  ; 
that  the  passions  exercise  the  same  empire  over  each  colour, 
and  that  all  equally  obey  the  influence  of  moral  and  physi- 
cal causes ;"  and  with  respert  to  any  difference  between 
European  and  Colonial  bondage,  he  has  not  even  alluded 
to  the  subject. 

I  admit,  however,  that  some  striking  distinctions  exist 
between  them  ;  distinctions  so  little  creditable  either  to  your 
country  or  my  own.  that  I  rejoice  that  my  subject  does  not 
compel  me  to  insist  upon  them.  The  argument  I  am  pur- 
suing, leads  me  to  dwell  less  on  those  points  in  which  the 
two  systems  differ,  than  on  those  in  wiiich  they  agree;  and  I 
trust  it  will  appear  from  their  coincidence  in  the  few  parti- 
culars in  which  I  shall  institute  a  comparison  between  them, 
that  tb"  principles  from  which  slavery  derives  its  malig- 
nant influence  on  human  character,  are  common  to  both, 
and  that  the  happy  results  which  have  followed  its  aboli- 
tion in  the  one  case,  may  reasonably  be  anticipated  from  it 
in  the  other 

If  in  the  West  Indies  and  America,  the  wealth  of  a  planter 
is  estimated,  not  by  the  number  of  acres  which  he  possesses, 
but  by  the  number  of  his  slaves,  so  it  is  in  Europe.  "  Pea- 
sants belonging  to  individuals  in  Russia,"  says  Coxe,  "  are 
the  private  property  of  the  landholder,  as  much  as  imple- 
ments of  agriculture,  or  herds  of  cattle,  and  the  value  of  an 
estate  is  estimated  by  the  number  of  boors,  and  not  by  the 
number  of  acres."  "  The  peasants  of  Poland,"  observes 
the  same  writer.  '*  as  in  all  feudal  governments,  are  serfs 
or  slaves  ;  and  the  value  of  an  estate  is  not  estimated  so 
much  from  its  extent,  as  from  the  number  of  its  peasants, 
who  are  transferred  from  one  master  to  another,  like  so 
many  herds  of  cattle." 

If  in  the  West  Indies  and  America,  the  slave  can  possess 
no  property,  except  at  the  will  of  the  master,  who  may 
choose  to  appropriate  it,  neither  can  he  in  many  parts  of 
Europe.  "  A  man,"  says  Storch,  "  who  belongs  to  another 
man,  cannot  possess  any  thing  of  his  own.  All  that  he 
produces,  and  all  that  he  acquires,  i°  produced,  and  ac- 


V, 


y 


;3J0 


quired  for  his  master."  •'  With  regard  to  any  capital,'* 
Coxe  observes,  '*  which  the  Russian  peasants  may  have 
acquired  by  their  industry,  it  may  be  seized,  and  there  can 
be  no  redress,  as  according  to  the  old  feudal  law,  which 
still  exists,  a  slave  cannot  institute  a  process  against  his 
master.  Hence  it  occasionally  happens,  that  several  pea- 
sants who  have  gained  a  large  capital,  cannot  purchase 
their  liberty  for  any  sum,  because  they  are  subject,  as  long 
as  they  continue  slaves,  to  be  pillaged  by  their  masters." 
"If  the  slave,''  says  Dr.  Clarke,  "  have  sufficient  ingenuity 
to  gain  money  without  his  knowledge,  it  becomes  a  dan- 
gerous possession,  and  when  discovered,  it  falls  instantly 
into  the  hands  of  his  lord.''  "  The  Russian  boors,"  Tooke 
remarks,  have  no  civil  liberty  ;  their  children  belong  not  to 
them,  but  to  their  manorial  lord,  on  whose  will  they  de- 
pend J  they  also,  with  their  children,  may  be  alienated,  sold, 
and  exchanged.  They  possess  no  immoveable  property  ; 
but  they  themselves  are  treated  sometimes  as  the  moveable, 
sometimes  as  the  immoveable  property  of  another.'' 

If  in  the  West  Indies  and  America,  the  power  of  the 
master  has  too  frequently,  in  practice  at  least,  extended 
to  the  life  of  the  slave,  such  has  often  been  the  case  in 
£urope.  In  the  state  of  Mississippi,  iii  1820,  a  young 
planter  was  pointed  out  to  me  who  had  shot  a  runaway 
slave  the  preceding  year,  without  ihe  smallest  notice  being 
taken  of  it;  and  a  similar  circumstance  had  occurred  on  a 
neighbouring  plantation  about  the  same  time.  "  In  the 
west  of  Europe,"  says  Storch,  "  under  the  feudal  system, 
the  condition  of  the  slaves  was  much  harder  than  it  is  in 
reality  in  Russia,  as  the  master  had  the  power  of  life  and 
death  over  his  slaves.'  Coxe,  in  his  travels  in  Poland, 
observes,  ''  Peasants  belonging  to  individuals,  are  at  the 
absolute  disposal  of  the  master,  and  have  scarcely  any  posi- 
tive security,  either  for  their  properties  or  their  lives.  Until 
1768,  statutes  of  Poland  only  exacted  a  fine  from  a  lord 
who  had  killed  his  slave  ;  but  in  that  year  a  decree  was 
passed  by  which  the  murder  of  a  peasant  was  made  a  capi- 
tal crime ;  yet,  as  the  law  in  question  requires  such  an  ac- 
cumulation of  evidence  as  is  seldom  to  be  obtained,  it  has 
more  the  appearance  of  protection  than  the  reality."  The 
same  traveller  observes,  in  his  travels  in  Russia,  "The 
lord,  according  to  the  ancient  laws,  had  no  power  over 
the  lives  of  the  peasants,  for  if  a  slave  was  beat  by  order 
of  his.  master,  and  died  within  the  space  of  three  days,  the 
latter  was  guilty  of  murder,  unless  other  reasons  could  be 


% 


■J^.i 


3lt 


assigned  tor  his  demise.  But  was  not  almost  tliis  a  mockery  of 
justice  f  For  surely  a  man  might  be  terribly  chastised  with< 
out  suflfering  death  in  three  days,  and  if  his  vassal  died 
within  that  space,  and  his  master  was  a  man  of  consequence, 
who  was  to  bring  him  to  justice?" 

If  in  the  West-Indies  and  America,  marriage  may  be 
rendered  impracticable,  or  its  sacred  ties  torn  asunder  at 
the  caprice  of  a  master,  so  they  may  in  Europe.  ^^  If  the 
slave  marries  ''  says  Storch, ''  it  is  because  his  master  either 
wishes  it,  or  allows  it ;  if  he  becomes  a  father,  his  children 
are  born  slaves,  like  himself:  his  authority  over  his  wife 
and  children  is  subordinate  to  that  which  his  master  exer- 
cises over  them  :  he  is  first  a  slave,  and  then  a  man.''  "  A 
peasant  in  the  village  of  Celo  Molody,  near  Moscow," 
observes  Dr.  Clarke,  "  who  had  been  fortunate  enough  to 
scrape  together  a  little  wealth,  wished  to  marry  his  daugh- 
ter to  a  tradesman  of  the  city,  and  offered  fifteen  thousand 
roubles  for  her  freedom — a  most  unusual  price,  and  a  nmch 
greater  sum  than  persons  of  his  class,  situated  as  he  was, 
will  be  found  to  possess.  The  tyrant  took  the  ransom,  and 
then  told  the  father  that  both  the  girl  and  the  money  belong- 
ed to  him ;  and  therefore,  she  must  continue  among  the 
number  of  his  slaves." 

If  the  negroes,  (often  active  and  energetic  in  their  own 
country,)  are  accused  of  indolence  and  apathy  in  the  colo- 
nies, so  are  the  lively  Kussians  themselves  when  benumb- 
ed by  slavery.  "  Other  nations,"  says  Dr.  Clarke, 
"  speak  of  Russian  indolence,  which  is  remarkable,  as  no 
people  are  naturally  more  lively,  or  more  disposed  to 
employment.  We  may  perhaps  assign  a  cause  for  their 
inactivity.  It  is  necessary.  Can  there  exist  excitement 
to  labour,  when  it  is  certain  that  a  tyrant  will  bereave  in- 
dustry of  all  its  reward.  The  only  property  a  Russian 
nobleman  allows  his  slave  to  possess,  is  the  food  he  cannot 
or  will  not  eat  himself.  The  bark  of  trees,  chaff,  and 
other  refuse,  grass,  and  fish  oil."  "With  regard,''  says 
Mr.  Herber,  "  to  the  idleness  of  the  lower  classes  in  Rus- 
sia, of  which  we  have  heard  great  complaints,  it  appears 
that  when  they  have  an  interest  in  exertion,  they  by  no 
means  want  industry.  Great  proprietcT.,  who  never  raise 
their  abrock,  such  as  Count  Sheremotoff,  have  very  rich 
and  prosperous  peasants."  Again,  ''  We  observed  a  strik- 
ing difference  between  the  peasants  of  the  crown,  and  those 
of  individuals.  The  former  are  almost  all  in  comparative- 
ly easy  circumstances.     Their  abrock  or  rent  is  fixed,  and 


i/l 


.■,'< 


^..Il 


*"■'  -^ 


I 


I  ■  1 


■^ 


612 


.^      ^ 


,1 


as  tliey  are  sure  it  will  never  be  raised,  tliey  are  more  in- 
dustrious. 

If  the  miseries  of  slavery  in  the  Colonies  occasionally 
exasperate  the  slaves  to  desperation,  and  impel  them  to 
atrocities,  which  diffuse  general  apprehension  and  alarm, 
the  same  thing  occurs  in  Russia.  ''In  such  instances,^' 
observes  Dr.  Clarke,  "  the  peasants  take  the  law  into  their 
own  hands,  and  assassinate  their  lordsi  To  prevent  this, 
the  latter  live  in  cities,  remote  from  their  own  people,  and 
altogether  unmindful  of  all  that  concerns  their  slaves,  ex- 
cept the  tribute  they  are  to  pay."  Mr.  Birkbeck  relates  the 
following  anecdote  of  a  planter,  whom  he  met  in  a  tavern 
in  Virginia,  and  Dr.  Clarke  informs  us  that  Russia  can 
supply  many  parallel  cases.  "  One  gentleman,"  says  Mr. 
Birkbeck,  ''  in  a  poor  state  of  health,  dared  not  encounter 
the  rain,  but  was  wretched  at  the  thoughts  of  his  family's 
being  for  one  night  without  his  protection,  from  his  own 
slaves.  He  was  suffering  under  the  effects  of  a  poison- 
ous potion,  administered  by  a  negro  who  was  his  personal 
servant."  Dr.  Clarke  observes,  •'  Many  of  the  Russian 
nobles  dare  not  venture  near  their  own  villages,  through 
fear  of  the  vengeance  they  have  merited  by  their  crimes.'' 
It  has  occurred  to  myself,  while  in  the  state  of  Mississippi, 
to  hear  a  well  authenticated  instance  of  a  planter,  vi  ho  was 
compelling  his  slaves  to  work  during  a  great  part  of  the 
night,  having  been  surprised  asleep  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
on  which  he  had  set  down  to  inspect  them,  shot  with  his 
own  rifle,  and  then  burnt  in  the  ashes  of  their  midnight 
fires;  and  Mr.  Herber  remarks  when  in  Russia,  '^The 
brother  of  a  lady  of  our  acquaintance,  who  had  a  great 
distillery,  disappeared  suddenly,  and  was  pretty  easily 
guessed  to  have  been  thrown  into  a  boiling  copper  hy  his 
slaves."  He  adds,  "  domestic  servants  (slaves)  sometimes 
revenge  themselves  in  a  terrible  manner." 

If  travellers  in  America  find  the  prisons  in  the  slave- 
states  filled  with  slaves,  (as  I  do  almost  universally,)  Mr. 
Herber  remarks,  "  the  prisons  of  Moscow  and  Kastroma 
were  chiefly  filled  with  runaway  slaves,  who  were  for  the 
most  part  in  irons." 

If  in  passing  from  a  free  into  a  slave-state  in  America, 
the  change  i§  instantly  visible,  even  to  the  most  careless 
eye,  and  nature  herself  seems  to  droop  and  sicken  under 
the  withering  influence  of  slavery  ;  the  case  is  precisely  the 
same  in  Europe.  "  The  houses,"  says  Hall,  in  his  travel?, 
"  in   America    universally    shaded   with  large  verandahs. 


316 


seem  to  give  notice  ot'  a  southern  climate ;  the  huts  around 
them,  open  to  the  elements,  tell  a  less  pleasing  tale  :  they 
inform  the  traveller  he  has  entered  on  a  land  of  freemen  and 
slaves,  and  he  heholds  the  scene  marred  with  wretched 
dwellings,  and  wretched  faces  !  And  if  the  miserable  con- 
dition of  the  negro  leave  him  mind  for  reflection,  he  might 
laugh  in  his  chains,  to  see  how  slavery  has  stricken  the  land 
with  ugliness.  The  smiling  villages  and  happy  population 
of  the  eastern  and  central  states,  give  place  to  the  splendid 
equipages  of  a  few  planters,  and  a  wretched  negro  popula- 
tion, crawling  among  filthy  hovels.  For  villages,  after 
crossing  the  Susquehannah,  there  are  scarcely  any  :  there 
are  only  plantations — the  very  name  speaks  volumes  !" 
My  own  personal  observation  enables  me  to  subscribe  to 
the  fidelity  of  this  picture,  and  from  a  recent  communica- 
tion which  now  lies  before  me  from  America,  in  reply  to 
some  inquiries  transmitted  to  that  country  on  the  subject,  I 
extract  the  following  remarks :  "  It  is  believed  that  no 
country  chu  furnish  a  more  full  and  clear  opportunity,  than 
the  United  States  of  America  do  at  this  time,  of  testing 
the  eflect  of  domestic  slavery  upon  the  industry  and  pros- 
perity of  a  nation,  and  the  relative  value  or  profit  of  free 
and  slave  labour.  The  States  of  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Vermont,  New-York,  New- 
Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  are  now  cultivated  almost  en- 
tirely by  freemen.  These  States  lie  under  a  more  rigorous 
climate,  and  possess  u  less  fertile  soil  than  the  southern 
states,  yet  the  prosperous  situation  of  the  country,  the 
general  comfort  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  improved  con- 
dition of  agriculture  in  those  free  states,  compared  with 
the  slave  states,  are  so  obvious  as  to  strike  the  traveller  im- 
mediately, as  he  passes  from  the  one  district  to  the  other. 
In  the  one  we  find  the  whole  country  divided  into  small 
farms  of  from  lOO  to  500  acres  of  land  ;  on  each  of  these 
tracts  is  generally  erected  a  comfortable  dwelling-house, 
with  the  necessary  out-buildings,  which  are  surrounded  by 
well  cultivated  fields,  in  good  order.  In  this  district,  the 
farmers,  with  but  (ew  exceptions,  annually  realize  a  small 
profit,  by  which  they  are  enabled,  as  their  children  attain 
to  manhood,  to  make  respectable  provision  for  their  estab- 
lishment in  business.  In  tlie  other,  we  meet  here  and  there, 
thinly  scattered  over  a  wretchedly  cultivated  district  of 
country,  a  mansion-house,  commonly  in  bad  repair,  sur- 
rounded by  a  number  of  dirty  beggarly  huts,  crowded  wiih 
ragged  negroes  and  mulattoes,  and  the  whole  bearing  the 

40 


')( 


.« !  ■"i 


I  ll 


I 


...**. 


■^* 


314 

strongest  marks  of  oppression  and  suffering,  in  which  the 
half-starved  neglected  cattle,  and  other  domestic  animais, 
evidently  participate.  In  other  words,  in  those  districts 
where  the  system  of  slavery  is  in  full  operation,  the  popula- 
tion is  couiposed'of  the  two  extreme  conditions  of  society, 
viz. :  the  rich  and  the  poor  :  and  we  meet  with  scarcely  any 
of  that  middling  class  which  in  all  countries  constitutes  its 
most  valuable  members,  and  its  most  efficient  strength/'  It 
is  observed  of  a  slave  district  in  Russia,  in  the  ''Memoirs 
of  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg,"  "  A  few  cities  enjoy  the 
pleasures  of  life,  and  exhibit  palaces,  because  whole  pro- 
vinces lie  desolate,  or  contain  only  wretched  hovels,  in 
which  you  would  expect  to  find  bears  rather  than  men." 
Coxe  observes,  in  his  journey  from  Stockholm  to  Carls- 
crona,  "  After  having  witnessed  the  slavery  of  the  peasants 
in  Russia  and  Poland,  it  was  a  pleasing  satisfaction  to  find 
myself  again  among  freemen,  in  a  kingdom  where  there  is 
a  more  equal  division  of  property,  where  there  is  no  vas- 
salage ;  where  the  lowest  order  enjoy  a  security  of  person 
and  pt'operty,  and  where  the  advantages  resultii:g  from  this 
right,  are  visible  to  the  commonest  observer.  Norway  is 
blessed  with  a  particular  code,  called  the  '  Norway  Law.' 
"  By  this  law — the  palladium  of  Norway,  the  peasants  are 
fret' ;  a  few  only  excepted  on  certain  noble  estates  near 
Freiit-ricksiadt.  The  benefits  of  the  Norway  code  are  so 
visible,  us  to  the  general  effect  on  the  happiness,  and  on 
the  appearance  of  the  peasants,  that  a  traveller  must  be 
blind  who  does  not  instantly  perceive  the  difference  between 
the  free  peasants  of  Norway,  and  the  enslaved  vassals  of 
Denmark,  though  both  living  under  the  same  government." 

If  in  the  West  Indies  and  America,  you  are  often  sur- 
prised and  grieved  by  the  strange  assertion  that  the  condi- 
tion of  the  slaves  is  as  good  as  that  of  the  labourers  in  Eng- 
land, as  if  mere  animal  sustenance  were  all  that  is  necessa- 
ry for  the  happiness  of  a  rational  and  immortal  being,  the 
same  proof  is  often  afforded  in  Russia,  of  the  degree  in 
which  familiarity  with  slavery  may  degrade  man  in  the  es- 
timate of  his  fellow- man,  and  render  a  feudal  lord  insen- 
sible to  all  that  constitutes  the  essence  of  freedom.  •'  There 
is,"  said  one  of  the  Russian  princes  to  Dr.  Clarke,  address- 
ing himself  to  him  with  an  air  of  triumph,  "  more  of  the 
reality  "  of  slavery  in  England  than  in  Russia." 

And  if  in  the  West  Indies,  there  is  a  general  prejudice 
against  emancipation,  and  the  idea  of  imparting  to  slaves 
the  privileges  of  freedom  is  regarded  as  theoretical  and  vi. 


m 


V^SBJ, 


#■•#!>' 


315 

sionary  ;  similar  errors  and  prejudices  have  prevailed,  and 
perhaps  still  prevail  in  many  parts  of  Europe.  "  The  gene- 
rality of  the  Polish  nobles,"  observes  Coxe,  "are  not  in- 
clined either  to  establish  or  give  efficacy  to  any  regulations 
in  favour  of  the  peasants,  whom  they  consider  as  not  enti- 
tled to  the  common  rights  of  humanity  !"  ''  I  was  much 
surprised  to  find  that,"  says  the  same  author,  '  upon  in- 
quiry, that  no  noble  in  Russia  had  franchised  his  vassals ; 
but  I  may  venture  to  predict  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant, 
although  an  almost  general  prejudice  seems  to  prevail,  with 
respect  to  the  incapacity  of  the  peasants  for  receiving  their 
liberty.  And  this  perhaps  may  be  true  in  the  literal  sense, 
as  many  of  them,  unless  properly  instructed,  would  scarce- 
ly be  enabled  to  derive  a  solid  advantage  from  their  free- 
dom, which  might  be  considered  by  some  as  an  exemption 
from  labour,  and  permission  for  licentiousness.  A  century 
ago  perhaps  no  one  in  Russia  would  have  ventured  to  debate 
the  que  ■< (ion,  whether  peasants  ought  to  be  free," 

And  yet  emancipation  has  proceeded  rapidly  in  Europe^ 
with  what  brilliant  success  let  Ganilh  himself  inform  us : 
"  The  emancipation  of  the  people  of  Europe,  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  the  clearing  and  culture  of  the  soil ;  by  the  con- 
version of  cabins  into  cottages,  of  hamlets  into  villages, 
of  villages  into  towns,  and  of  towns  into  cities  ;  by  the  en> 
couragement  of  industry  and  trade ;  by  public  order  and 
social  strength.  The  nations  which  have  made  the  most 
shining  figure,  are  the  very  ones  which  have  first  substituted 
the  labour  of  the  freeman  for  that  of  the  slave ;  and  other 
nations  have  not  been  able  to  raise  themselves  to  the  same 
height  of  prosperity,  but  by  imitating  their  example; 
would  the  era  of  financial  and  political  improvement  in 
modern  Europe  may  be  dated  from  the  abolition  of  actual 
and  personal  servitude." 

And  why  may  not  the  same  glorious  consequences  fol- 
low the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  West  ?  is  it  in  Europe 
only  that  the  mind  can  awaken  from  the  lorpor  of  slavery 
to  life  and  intelligence .''  What  shall  we  say,  then,  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  under  British  auspices,  in  Ceylon,  in 
Java,  in  Sumatra,  and  in  St.  Helena.''  Or  is  it  the  African 
alone  who  imbibes  a  poison  from  the  bitter  cup  which  no 
antidote  can  cure,  but  which  flows  in  the  veins,  and  attaints 
the  blood  of  his  latest  posterity  ?  To  you,  Sir,  it  would  be 
most  unjust  to  impute  such  an  opinion ;  but  if  it  should  be 
entertained  by  any  of  your  countrymen,  I  ^vould  refer 
them  to  the  experiment  lately  made  in  Colombia,  where  a 


I 


I 


)   i 


ii\ki 


great  body  of  slaves  have  been  emancipafed,  who  are  said 
"  lo  have  coiiduricd  ihcrnselves  with  a  de^rt'e  of  industry, 
sobriety,  and  order,  highly  creditable  to  theni  '^  I  would 
refer  them  to  the  instance  of  the  American  slaves  who  join- 
ed the  British  standard  in  the  last  w;ir,  and  who  are  now 
settled  in  Trinidad  ;  w  here,  under  the  protection  of  Sir 
Ralph  Woodford,  the  Governor,  •*  they  are  earning  their 
sul>>istence,"  Mr.  Wilberforce  informs  us,  "with  so  much 
industry  and  good  conduct,  as  to  have  put  to  silence  all 
the  calumnies  which  were  first  urged  against  the  measure." 
I  would  refer  them  to  the  testimony  of  a  traveller,  whose 
aoihority  they  will  not  dispute,  the  enterprising  and  phi- 
losophical Humboldt :  "  In  all  these  excursions,"  he  ob- 
serves, "  we  were  agreeably  surprised,  not  only  at  the  pro- 
gress of  agriculture,  but  the  increase  of  a  free,  laborious 
population,  accustomed  to  toil,  and  too  poor  to  rely  on  the 
assistance  of  slaves.  White  and  black  farmers  had  every 
where  separate  establishments.''  1  love  to  dwell  on  these 
details  of  colonial  industry,  because  they  prove  to  the  in- 
liabitants  of  £urope,  what  to  the  enlightened  inhabitants  of 
the  colonies  has  long  ceased  to  be  doubtful,  that  tlie  conti- 
nent of  Spanish  America  can  produce  sugar  and  indigo  by 
free  hands,  and  that  the  unhappy  slaves  are  caprV''^  of  be- 
coming peasants,  farmers,  and  landholders."  I  would  re- 
fer them  to  the  interesting  and  Hourishing  colony  of  Sierra 
Leone,  that  morning  star  of  Africa,  which  beams  so  brightly 
on  her  sable  brow.  Or,  lastly,  I  would  reter  them  to  a 
dark  page  in  your  colonial  history,  where  the  refutation  of 
their  opinion  is  written  in  characters  of  fire. 

Why,  then,  I  would  ask  again,  n.'3v  not  the  same  glorious 
consequences  which  followed  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
Kin'ope,  follow  its  abolition  in  the  West  ?  "  The  abolition 
of  the  slave-trade,"  says  Brougham,  "  assi!^tedby subordinate 
arrangements,  similar  to  those  adopted  in  the  ancient  stutesy 
in  the  feudal  kingdoms,  and.  in  the  American  Colonies,  will 
most  undoubtedly  alter  the  whole  face  of  things  in  the  new 
world.  The  negroes,  pla<'ed  in  almost  the  same  circum- 
stances with  the  bondmen  of  ancient  Europe  and  the  slaves 
of  the  classic  times,  will  begin  the  same  career  of  improve- 
ment. The  society  of  the  West  Indies  will  no  longer  be 
that  anomalous,  defective,  and  disgusting  monster  of  poli- 
tical existence,  which  we  have  so  often  been  forced  to  con- 
temp'aie  in  the  course  of  this  inquiry.  The  foundation  of 
rapid  improvemmt  will  be  securely  laid,  both  for  the 
-ivhites,  the  negroes,  and  the  mixed  race.     A  strong  and 


317 


irioiis 

|ry  in 

|lition 

vitiate 

•tutes^ 

will 

new 

fcum- 

[laves 

•ove- 

T  be 

|poli- 

con- 

in  of 

the 

and 


compact  political  structure  will  arise,  under  the  influence 
of  I  fiiild,  civilized,  and  enlightened  system.  The  vast 
coiitiiiLiit  of  Africa  will  keep  pace  with  the  quick  improve- 
ment of  the  world  which  she  has  peopled  ;  and  in  those 
regions  where,  as  yet,  only  the  w  ar-whoop,  the  lash,  and  the  - 
cries  of  misery,  have  divided  with  the  beasts  the  silence  of 
the  desert,  our  children,  and  the  children  of  our  slaves, 
niiiy  enjoy  the  delightful  prospect  of  that  benign  and 
splendid  reign,  which  is  exercised  by  the  arts,  the  sciences, 
and  the  virtues,  of  modern  Europe.'' 

Su(!h,  sir,  is  the  animating  picture  of  the  future  fortune? 
of  (he  negro  race.  It  is  drawn,  not  by  a  philanthropist  in 
the  tihuiies  of  retirement,  but  by  a  politician  who  had  me- 
ditated deeply  on  colonial  policy,  who  brought  to  the 
consideration  of  this  diflicult  topic,  a  mind  second  to  few 
in  J  iipacity  and  vigour,  and  enriched  with  the  most  valua- 
ble information,  commercial,  political,  and  moral,  on  all 
topus  connected  with  the  interests  of  the  colonies.  It  is  a 
sketch  fr(tm  the  hand  of  a  master,  but  of  a  master  more 
eminent  for  the  distinctness  of  his  conceptions,  and  the 
bold  lineaments  of  his  prominent  figures,  than  for  the  em- 
bellishments of  a  luxuriant  fancy,  or  the  warm  colouring  of 
romantic  or  impassioned  feeling. 

Nor  was  the  expectation  that  the  abolition  of  s!.«very, 
with  all  its  beneficial  results,  would  follow  the  abolition  of 
the  slave-trade,  confined  to  Mr.  Brougham.  •'  Not  1  only," 
says  Mr.  VVilberforcc,  but  all  the  chief  advocates  of  the 
abolition  of  the  slave-trade, — Mr  Pitt,  Mr.  Fox,  Lord 
Grenville,  Lord  Grey,  and  every  other, — scrupled  not  to 
declare,  from  the  very  first,  that  their  object  was,  by  ame- 
liorating regulations,  and  more  especially  by  stopping  that 
influx  of  uninstructed  savages,  which  furnished  an  excuse- 
for  continuing  a  harsh  system  of  management,  and  pre- 
vented masters  from  looking  to  their  actual  stock  of  slaves 
for  keeping  up  their  number,  to  be  surely  though  slowly 
advancing  towards  the  period  when  these  unhappy  beings 
might  exchange  their  degraded  state  of  slavery  for  that  of 
a  free  and  industrious  peasantry.'' 

Mr.  William  Smith  observes,  -'That  he  scrupled  not  to 
avow  and  to  maintain,  nor  had  he  ever,  at  any  period  of 
the  slave-trade  controversy,  scrupled  to  avow  and  to  main- 
tain, that  the  ultimate  object  of  every  friend  of  justice  and 
humanity  in  this  conntry.  must  and  oucrhi  to  be,  eventually 
to  extend  freedom  to  every  individual  within  the  dominions 
of  Great  Britain :  that  this  freedom  belonged   to  them   of 


j'  -»< 


( 


>l      i 


I 

i 

.;1    H 


1. 


L> 


S18 


f 


''I 


right ;  and  that  to  withhold  it  beyond  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  and  especially  to  withhold  it  systematically,  and  in 
intention, /or  ever,  was  the  very  grossest  injustice.  He  ad- 
mitted, indeed,  that  immediatt  emancipation  might  be  an 
injury,  and  not  a  benefit,  to  the  slaves  themselves  :  a  period 
of  preparation  seemed  to  be  necessary.  The  ground  of 
this  delay,  however,  was  not  the  intermediate  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  their  labour,  but  a  conviction  of  its  ex- 
pediency as  it  respected  themselves.  We  had  to  compen- 
sate to  these  wretched  beings  for  ages  of  injustice;  we  were 
bound  by  the  strongest  obligations  to  train  up  these  subjects 
of  onr  past  injustice  and  tyranny,  for  an  equal  participation 
with  ourselves  in  the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  the  protec- 
tion of  law  :  and  by  these  considerations  ought  our  mea- 
sures to  be  strictly  and  conscientiously  regulated.  It  was 
only  while  proceeding  in  such  a  course  of  action,  adopted 
on  principle  and  steadily  pursued,  that  we  could  be  justified 
in  the  retention  of  the  negroes  in  slavery  for  a  single  hour; 
and  he  trusted  that  the  eyes  of  all  men,  both  here  nnd  in 
the  colonies,  would  be  open  to  this  view  of  the  subject,  as 
their  clear  and  indispensable  duty.^^ 

And  why  have  so  many  years  elapsed  without  any  sys- 
tematic approach  to  that  happy  change  in  the  structure  of 
colonial  society,  which  was  so  generally  expected  to  fol- 
low the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade .''  Is  it  not  because  the 
circumstances  of  the  planters  have  never  yet  been  such  as 
to  compel  them  to  introduce  those  *' subordinate  arrange- 
ments," those  "  ameliorating  regulations,"  adopted  by  the 
ancient  states,  and  feudal  kingdoms  of  Europe  .'*  But  the 
time  is  probably  at  hand,  when  necessity  will  force  them 
to  adopt  the  most  economical  mode  of  culture,  however 
averse  to  change  and  innovation.  The  nation  will  not 
long  consent  to  support  a  wasteful  system  of  cultivation, 
at  the  expense  of  great  national  interests,  and  of  an  open- 
ing commerce  with  60  to  lOO  millions  of  our  fellow-sub- 
jecis ;  and  the  slave  labour  of  the  West  must  fall,  when 
brought  into  competition  with  the  free  labour  of  the  East. 

Deeply  impressed  with  this  conviction,  I  dwell  with  pe- 
culiar pleasure  on  every  view  of  this  important  subject, 
which  illustrates  the  connexion  between  the  interest  of  the 
master  and  the  slave.  And  having  had  a  near  view  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States  of  America,  having  seen  the 
dark  aspect  which  it  assumes,  and  the  apprehensions 
which  it  diffuses  under  a  government  pre-eminently  free,  in 
the  bosom  of  an  enlightened  people,  and  in  the  sunshine  of 


of  tlic 

And  in 

Head- 
be  an 
period 

lUiid   of 

/antage 

'  its  ex- 

ompen- 

we  were 

subjects 

cipation 
protec- 

ur  niea- 
It  was 

adopted 

justified 

t}c  hour ; 

>  and   in 

bject,  as 

any  sys- 
icture   of 
d  to  fol- 
ause  the 
such  as 
larrange- 
)d  by  the 
But  the 
Irce  them 
however 
will  not 
Itivation, 
Ian  open- 
llow-sub- 
^11,  when 
the  East, 
with  pe- 
subject, 
1st  of  the 
view  of 
seen  the 
?hensions 
free,  in 
nshine  of 


319 

benign  and  liberal  institutions,  I  am  persuaded  that  luch  a 
system  cannot  exist  long,  in  daily  contrast  with  the  enligh- 
tened policy  of  new  republics  of  the  West,  and  under  the 
brighter  light  which  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel  is  shedding 
over  the  globe.  I  rejoice,  therefore,  in  the  conclusion, 
that  the  satiie  measures, — the  mitigation  and  gradual  abo- 
lition of  slavery, — which  are  best  calculated  to  avert  a 
crisis  which  it  is  impossible  to  contemplate  without  dismay, 
are  precisely  those  which,  it  would  appear  from  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  are  most  adapted  to  promote  the  immediate 
interest  of  the  planters,  by  diminishing  the  expenses,  and 
increasing  the  produce  of  their  estates. 

That  the  removal  of  the  monopoly  which  they  at  pre- 
sent enjoy,  will  enhance  the  distress  of  the  West-India 
planters,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt ;  and  the  distress  of  so 
numerous  a  body,  comprising  some  of  the  most  enlighten- 
ed and  estimable  members  of  the  community,  deserves  a 
serious  and  dispassionate  consideration.  That  sympathy 
is  unnatural,  which  is  excited  only  for  sufferers  at  a  dis- 
tance, and  that  sensibility  defective,  which  can  feel  only  for 
the  slave.  But  it  is  the  part  of  an  enlightened  legislator, 
when  endeavouring  to  relieve  one  class  of  the  conmiunity. 
to  guard  against  the  injustice  of  transferring  the  burden  to 
another;  and  to  require  from  those  who  solicit  his  inter- 
ference, not  only  that  they  make  out  a  strong  case  of  dis- 
tress, but  that  they  prove  that  they  are  vigorously  pursuing 
every  means  within  their  own  power,  to  extricate  themselves? 
from  the  difficulties  of  their  situation. 

It  is  OH  these  grounds,  and  not  on  any  vague  idea,  that 
Parliament  is  pledged  to  support  them,  that  the  West  Indians 
should  rest  their  claims.  Even  with  respect  to  the  abso- 
lute prohibition  of  a  trade  which  Parliament  had  encou- 
raged, Mr.  Pitt  repelled  the  idea  of  the  Legislature's  be- 
ing restrained  by  a  reference  to  the  past,  from  exercising 
its  free  discretion  with  regard  to  the  future.  With  how 
much  greater  warmth  would  he  have  rejected  such  an  as- 
sumption, in  the  case  of  a  protecting  duty,  which  encou- 
rages a  system  of  cultivation  unnecessarily  expensive, 
which  acts  like  an  oppressive  tax  on  the  export  of  our 
manufactures,  and  which  operates  with  a  most  malignant 
and  wideN  '^tended  influence  on  the  industry,  energy,  and 
resources  '♦n  our  Indian  Empire.  He  observes,  "  It  is 
chiefly  on  the  presumed  ground  of  our  being  bound  by  a 
parliamentary  sanction,  heretofore  given  to  the  African 
>lavc-trade,  that  this  argument  against  the  abolition  is  rest- 


320 


I'.  » 


H 


11     i 


ed.  Is  there  any  one  regulation  of  nny  part  of  our  com- 
merce, whii'h  it"  this  argument  be  vulirl,  .uiy  not  equally 
be  objected  to,  on  the  ground  of  its  alTecting  some  man's 
patrimony,  some  man's  property,  or  so.ne  man's  expecta- 
tions. Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  the  argument  1  am 
canvassing.  wouM  be  just  as  strong,  if  the  possession  af- 
fected were  small,  and  the  possessors  humble  ;  for  on  every 
principle  of  justice,  the  property  of  every  single  individual, 
or  number  of  individuals,  is  as  sacred  as  that  of  the  great 
body  of  West  Indians.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  lay  a 
duty  on  any  one  article  which  may  not,  w  len  firsl  imposed, 
be  said  in  some  way  to  affect  the  propery  of  individuals, 
and  even  of  some  entire  classes  of  the  community.  If  the 
laws  respecting  the  slave-trade  imply  a  contract  for  its  per- 
petual continuance,  I  will  venture  to  say,  there  do»s  not 
pass  a  year  without  some  act  equally  pledging  the  faHh  of 
Parliament,  and  the  perpetuating  of  some  other  branch  of 
commerce." 

It  is  not  then  on  the  plea  of  a  parliamentary  pledge,  but 
simply  on  the  grounds  of  the  extent  of  their  distress,  and 
their  inability  to  relieve  themselves,  that  the  West-India 
planters  should  found  their  claims  for  support. 

But  this  inability,  however  real,  will  perpetually  be  call- 
ed in  question,  until  they  have  introduced  every  practica- 
ble improvement  into  their  system  of  cultivation.  When 
they  have  relieved  that  system  from  its  superfluous  ma- 
chinery, and  have  made  arrangements  for  the  gradual  ele- 
vation of  their  slaves  to  the  condition  of  free  labourers, 
they  will  have  prepared  themselves  to  come  before  Parlia- 
ment with  a  better  case :  and  will  have  laid  the  foundation 
lor  such  a  change  in  the  structure  of  colonial  society,  as 
will  ultimately  contribute  greatly  to  their  prosperity,  and 
will  exhibit  in  our  West-India  Islands,  another  liappy  illuj- 
tration  of  the  truth  of  the  position.  tNn  the  labour  of  frec- 
jnen  is  cheaper  than  the  labour  of  slaves. 


.-,  a*fc. 


.-J&:^ 


"fHft. 


:i:i 


APPENDIX  TO  M.  SAY'S  LKTTER. 


Many  of  the  following  proofs  and  illustrations  of  the 
truth  which  1  have  endeavoured  to  establish,  might  proba- 
bly have  been  introduced  with  propriety  into  the  preceding 
letter,  i  was,  however,  unwilling  to  interrupt  the  train  of 
reasoning,  by  any  additions  to  an  accumulation  of  testi- 
mony, already,  perhaps,  sufficiently  extensive,  and  some 
of  the  succeeding  remarks  did  not  fall  under  my  observa- 
tion until  the  Letter  was  printed.  1  had  no  opportunity  of 
seeing  Mr.  Ramsay's  "  Essay  on  the  treatment  and  Con- 
version of  African  Slaves  in  the  British  Sugar  Colonies," 
or  Dr.  Dickson'a  tract  "  On  the  Mitigation  of  Slavery," 
until  the  preceding  pages  were  in  the  press ;  and  I  have, 
consequently,  been  enabled  to  introduce  only  a  few  brief 
remarks  from  these  very  valuable  works.  The  latter  con- 
tains so  much  that  bears  directly  on  the  question  at  issue, 
that  I  am  unwilling  not  to  avail  myself  of  it  more  freely  ; 
and  I  shall,  therefore,  extract  from  it  rather  copiously  in 
this  Appendix,  after  adducing  the  testimony  of  Burke, 
Franklin,  and  Beattie,  in  favour  of  the  position  1  have  ad- 
vocated. 

Burke. 

"  I  am  the  more  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  these  in- 
dulgences, as  slaves  certainly  cannot  go  through  so  much 
work  as  free  men.  The  "nind  goes  a  great  way  in  every 
thing,  and  when  a  man  knows  that  his  labour  is  for  him- 
self, and  that  the  more  he  labours,  the'  more  he  is  to  ac- 
quire; this  consciousness  carries  him  through,  and  supports 
him  beneath  fatigues,  under  which  he  would  otherwise  have 
sunk." — Burke  on  Euiopean  Settlements. 

Franklin. 
"It  is  an  ill-grounded  opinion,  that  by  the  labour  of 
slaves,  America  may  possibly  vie  in  cheapness  of  manu- 
factures with  Great  Britain.  The  labour  of  slaves  can 
never  be  so  cheap  here,  as  the  labour  of  working  men  is  in 
Great  Britain.  Any  one  may  compute  it.  Reckon,  then, 
the  interest  of  the  first  purchase  of  a  slave,  the  insurance 
or  risk  on  his  life,  his  clothing  and  diet,  expenses  in  hi> 

41 


1 


f 


'ft 


322 


H' 


1* 


(.  '-''V 


^^ 


(■  s 


sickness,  and  loss  of  time,  loss  by  his  neglect  of  biisineiis, 
neglect  which  is  natural  to  the  man  who  is  not  to  be  bene- 
fited by  his  own  care  and  diligence,  expense  of  a  driver  to 
keep  him  at  work,  and  his  pilfering  from  time  to  time,  (al- 
most every  slave  lieing  from  the  nature  of  slavery  a  thief,) 
and  compare  the  whole  amount  with  the  wages  of  a  manu- 
facturer of  iron  or  wool,  in  England,  you  will  see  that  la- 
bour is  much  cheaper  there,  than  it  ever  can  be  by  negroes 
here." — Franklin  on  the  Peopling  of  Countries, 

Dr.  Beattie. 
"  That  the  proprietors  of  West-India  estates  would  be  in 
any  respect  materially  injured  by  employing  free  servants, 
(if  these  could  be  had,)  in  their  several  manufactures,  is 
highly  improbable,  and  has,  indeed,  been  absolutely  de- 
nied by  those  who  were  well  informed  on  this  subject.  A 
clergyman  of  Virginia  assured  me,  that  a  white  man  does 
double  the  work  of  a  slave ;  which  will  not  seem  wonder- 
ful, if  we  consider  that  the  former  works  for  himself,  and 
the  latter  for  another ;  that  by  the  law  one  is  protected,  the 
other  oppressed  ;  and  that  in  the  articles  of  food  and  clothing, 
relaxation  and  rest,  the  free  man  has  innumerable  advantages. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  presumed,  that  if  all  who  serve  in 
the  colonies  were  free,  the  same  work  would  be  performed 
by  half  the  number,  which  is  now  performed  by  the  whole. 
The  very  soil  becomes  more  fertile  under  the  hands  of  free 
men,  so  says  an  intelligent  French  author,  (Le  Poivre,) 
who,  after  observing  that  the  products  of  Cochin  China 
are  the  same  in  kind  with  those  of  the  West-Indies,  but  of 
better  quality,  and  in  greater  abundance,  gives  for  a  rea- 
son, that,  '  the  former  are  cultivated  by  free  men,  and  the 
latter  by  slaves ;'  and  therefore,  argues,  *  that  the  negroes 
beyond  the  Atlantic  ought  to  be  made  free.'  •  The  earth,' 
says  he,  '  which  multiplies  her  productions  with  profusion 
under  the  hands  of  a  free-born  labourer,  seems  to  shrink 
into  barrenness  under  the  sweat  of  the  slave.'  " 

The  Honourable  Joshua  Steele. 

The  honourable  Joshua  Steele,  whose  communications 
form  so  valuable  a  part  of  Dr.  Dickson's  work,  was  a  very 
intelligent  gentleman,  of  large  West-India  property,  who, 
previous  to  visiting  his  estates  in  Barbadoes,  lived  many 
years  in  London,  in  habits  of  intimacy  with  persons  of 
rank  and  character.  He  was  vice-president  of  the  London 
Society  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce,  and  was 


SfeV 


-am:... 


3i;^ 


oivre,) 

n  China 

but  of 

a   rea- 

and  the 


supposed  to  be  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Dublin  Society. 
Ue  went  to  Barbadoes  iate  in  life,  where  he  was  a  member 
ofthe  Council,  and  officiated  some  time  as  Chief  Justice.  He 
was  also  the  founder  ofthe  1'  rbadoes  Society  of  Arts,  Manu- 
factures, and  Commerce,  and  President,  till  it  had  acquired 
some  strength,  when  the  Governor  became  President,  and 
Mr.  Steele  Vice-president.  He  arrived  in  Barbadoes  in 
1780.  The  Society  was  founded  in  ]781,  and  in  1787  and 
1788,  *' he  contrived  to  give  in  the  Barbadoes  Gazette,  (by 
his  account  of  several  conversations,)  faithful  copies  of  the 
material  part  of  the  manuscript  minutes  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  society  in  their  committees,"  under  the  signature  of 
Philo  Xylon. 

In  1790,  about  10  years  after  his  arrival  in  Barbadoes, 
he  writes  to  Dr.   Dickson,  who  had  also  been  a  resident  in 
that  island  as  private  secretary  to  governor  Hay :  '*  Upon 
observing  all  this,"  (the  abuses  which  still  continued  on  his 
plantation,  after  his  attempts  to  correct  them  in  the  ordina- 
ry way,)  "  1  resolved  to    make  a  further  experiment,  in 
order  to  try  whether  1  could  not  obtain  the  labour  of  my 
negroes  by  voluntary  means,   instead  of  the  old  method, 
by  violence,  and   that  in  such  a  way  as  should  be  a  proof 
against  the  insidious  insinuations  of  my  superintcndant ; 
when,  for  a  small  pecuniary  reward  over  and  above  their 
usual  allowances,    the  poorest,  feeblest,  and  by  character 
the  most  indolent  negroes  in  the  whole  gang,  cheerfully  per- 
formed the  holing  of  my  land  for  canes,  (generally  said  to  be 
the  most  laborious  work,)  for  less  than  a  fourth  part  of  the 
stated  price  paid  to  the  undertakers  for  holing.      Of  this 
there  is  a  pretty  exact  account  given  in  Philo  Xylon's  eighth 
letter.     I  repeated  the  like  experiment  the  following  year 
with  equal  success,  and  on  the  1 8th.  Nov.  ]789,  1  gave  also 
my  slaves  tenements  of  land,  and  pecuniary  wages,  by  the 
hour,  the  day,  or  the  week,  for  their  labour  and  services, 
nearly  according  to  the  plan  described   in  Philo  Xylon's 
ninth  letter,  and  soon   after  dismissed  my  superintcndant." 
The  account  to  which  he  alludes  in  Philo  Xylon's  eighth  let- 
ter, is  the  following  : "  A  planter  offered  a  premium  ot 

two-pence  halfpenny  a  day,  or  a  pistareen  per  week,  with 
the  usual  allowance  to  holers,  of  a  dram  with  molasses,  to 
any  twenty  five  of  his  negroes,  men  and  women,  who  would 
undertake  to  hole  for  canes,  an  acre  per  day,  at  about 
ninety-six  and  a  half  holes  for  each  negro  to  the  acre.  The 
whole  gang  were  ready  to  undertake  it,  but  only  fifty  of 
the  volunteers  were  accepted,  and  many  among  those  who 


.-^^-s3ie%s«:_ 


>f 


■.».>*-^;» 


I' 


y  4 


\      ■**: 


t 


V' 


.j24 

on  much  lighter  occasions,  had  usually  pleaded  infirmity 
and  inability.  But  the  ground  having  been  nnoist,  they 
holed  twelve  acres  within  six  days,  with  great  ease  :  having 
had  an  hour,  more  or  less,  every  evening,  to  spare ;  and 
the  like  experiment  was  repeated  with  the  same  success. 
More  experiments,  with  such  premiums,  on  weeding  and 
deep  hoeing,  were  made  by  task-work  per  acre,  and  all 
succeeded  in  like  manner,  their  premiums  being  all  perpetu- 
ally paid  them  in  proportion  to  their  performance.  But  af- 
terwards, some  of  the  same  people  being  put  ("without  pre- 
mium) to  weed  on  a  loose  cultivated  soil  in  the  common 
manner,  eighteen  negroes  did  not  do  as  much  in  a  given 
time,  as  six  had  performed  of  the  like  sort  of  work,  a  few 
days  before,  with  the  premium  of  the  two  pence  halfpenny. 

"But  these  heterodox  experiments  did  not  pass  without 
censure.  However,  the  plain  answer  is,  that  by  the  last 
experiment,  where  eighteen  negroes,  under  the  whip,  did 
not  do  as  much  as  six  with  the  premium,  the  planter  was 
clearly  convinced  that  saving  time,  by  doing  in  one  day  as 
much  as  would  otherwise  require  three  days,  was  worth  more 
than  double  the  premium,  the  timely  effects  on  vegetation 
being  critical.  And  moreover,  it  was  remarkable,  that 
during  the  operations  under  the  premium,  there  were  no 
pretended  disorders,  no  crowding  to  the  sick-house.  But 
according  to  the  vulgar  mode  of  governing  negro-slaves, 
they  feel  only  the  desponding  fear  of  punishment  for  doing 
less  than  they  ought,  without  being  sensible  that  the 
settled  allowance  of  food  and  clothing  is  given,  and  should 
be  accepted  as  a  reward  for  doing  work :  while,  in  task- 
work, the  expectation  of  winning  the  reward,  and  the  fear 
of  losing  it,  have  a  double  operation  on  their  minds  to  ex- 
ert their  endeavours.'* 

In  Philo  Xylon's  ninth  letter,  to  which  he  alludes,  Mr. 
Steele  shows,  that  by  giving  his  slaves  tenements  of  laud, 
and  pecuniary  wages,  the  expense  of  employing  the  labour 
of  three  hundred  copyhold  bond  slaves,  including  the  value 
of  the  land  given  to  them,  is  only  £1283  Ids  Od 

While  that  of  three  hundred  slaves  under  the 
ordinary  management,  is  at  £5  14s  each  .  .  1710    0    0 


Making  a  saving  of  currency 
Or  sterling 


.420     5    0 
334    9    3 


The  advantage  of  the  plan  pursued  by  Mr.  Steele,  is  still 
more  evident  from  the  followiner  extract,  from  the  "Sup- 


;f 


V 


■*.« 


-I   nittttikf    <*<-—. 


<wflir  -».. 


325 


that 


0  0 

5    0 

19    3 

1  IS  still 
'Sup- 


plement to  the  privy  council's  report."  It  is  taken  Irom 
liie  reply  to  the  17th  of  the  Queries,  from  his  excellency 
Governor  Parry,  answered  by  Joshua  Steele,  Esq.  A 
planter  of  1068  acres,  in  the  parishes  of  St.  John,  St.  Philip, 
and  St.  George,  in  the  Island  ofBarbadoes. 

On  a  plantation  of  288  slaves,  in  June  1780,  viz.  90  men, 
82  women,  56  boys,  and  60  girls,  by  the  exertions  of  an 
able  and  honest  manager,  there  were  only  15  births,  and 
no  less  than  57  deaths,  in  three  years  and  three  months. 
An  alteration  was  made  in  the  mode  of  governing  the 
slaves,  the  whips  were  taken  from  all  the  white  servants, 
all  arbitrary  punishments  were  abolished,  and  all  oflences 
were  tried,  and  sentence  passed  by  a  negro  court.  In 
four  years  and  three  months,  under  this  change  of  government, 
there  were  44  births,  and  only  41  deaths,  oif  which  10  deaths 
were  of  superannuated  men  and  women,  and,  past  labour, 
some  above  80  years  old.  But  in  the  same  interval,  the 
annual  nett  clearance  of  the  estate  was  above  three  times 
more  than  it  had  been  for  ten  years  before.'''' — From  the 
privy  council's  report,  part  3,  p.  472. 

Dr.  Dickson,  who  had  carefully  examined  the  subject  of 
slave  labour,  and  who  has  published  some  excellent  tables 
uf  Labour  Annuities,  the  result  of  practical  experience  and 
scientific  investigation,  considers  the  preceding  estimates 
of  saving  and  profit  to  be  stated  with  great  moderation. 
He  notices  them  in  many  parts  of  his  work,  and  among 
others  in  the  following  passage. 

"  Thus  then,  all  things  conspire  to  prove,  that  the  returns 
of  slave  labour  on  sugar  plantations  have  been,  and  are 
still,  very  rapidly  declining.  The  ground  on  which  the 
planter  stands  has  never  been  firm,  and  is  now  fast  sinking 
under  his  feet.  To  save  himself  from  the  opening  gulf,  he 
must  reduce  the  enormous  expense  of  producing  his  article, 
by  some  such  means  as  those  recommended  by  the  success 
of  Mr.  Steele  and  other  wise  economists  in  sugar  cultiva- 
tion. He  must  call  forth  the  latent  vigour  of  his  slaves  by 
rewards,  and  abate  in  every  possible  way,  the  waste,  thoft, 
idleness,  desertion,  pretended  sickness,  and  secret  reluc- 
tance and  opposition,  which  must  always  more  or  less 
diminish  the  labour  of  slaves.  '  For  a  slave,'  as  Adam 
Smith  observes, '  can  have  no  other  interest  than  to  eat  and 
waste  as  much,  and  work  as  little,  as  possible.'" 

"  We  might  be  thought  to  refine  too  much,  were  we  to 
attempt  to  calculate  the  diminution  of  labour  caused  by 
those  moral  evih  of  slavery.      And  beside,  we  could  ofTpr 


i|^ 


•■•«<*> 


■•- •••»...- •■^—  ---»•% 


■-g 


V 


32G 


:'"■  ,1 


no  estimate  half  so  satisfactory  as  that  given  above,  of  the 
actual  saving  by  the  system  recommended  ;  which  saving  is 
nothing  else  than  the  amount  of  what  is  lost,  by  attempting 
the  impossibility  of  curing  tht  moral  incapacity  oj  slaves  by 
force  instead  of  reward.^^ 

Mr.  Botham. 

On  the  mode  of  cultivating  a  sugar  plantation  at  6,.tavia,  &c. 
"  It  may  be  desirable  to  know  that  sugar,  better  and 
cheaper  than  in  our  Island,  is  produced  in  the  EjlU  Indies 
by  free  labourers. — China,  Bengal,  and  Malabar  produce 
quantities  of  sugar  and  spirits,  but  the  most  considerable 
estates  are  near  Batavia.  The  proprietor  is  generally  a 
rich  Dutchman,  who  builds  on  it  substantial  works.  He 
rents  the  estate  ofi'  (of  300  or  more  acres)  to  a  Chinese, 
who  superintends  it,  and  relets  it  to  free  men  in  parcels  of 
50  or  60  acres,  which  they  plant  at  so  much  per  pecul 
(133ilb)  of  the  sugar  produced.  The  superintendant  col- 
lects people  to  take  off  the  crop.  One  set,  with  their  carts 
and  buffaloes,  cut  the  canes,  carry  them  to  the  mill,  and 
grind  them  ;  a  second  set  boil  the  sugar,  and  a  third  set 
clay  and  basket  it  for  the  market ;  all  at  so  much  per  pecul. 
Thus  the  renter  knows  what  every  pecul  will  cost  him. 
He  has  no  unnecessary  expense  ;  for  when  the  crop  is  over, 
the  last  men  go  home ;  and  for  seven  montns  in  the  year, 
the  cane-planters  only  remain,  preparing  the  next  crop. 
By  dividing  the  labour,  it  is  cheaper  and  better  done. 
After  spending  two  years  in  the  Ji  est  Indies,  1  returned  to 
the  East  in  1776,  and  conducted  sugar-works  in  Bencoolen 
on  similar  principles  with  the  Dutch.  Having  experienced 
the  difference  of  labourers  for  profit  and  labourers  from 
force,  I  can  assert  that  the  savings  by  the  former  are  very 
considerable.  By  following  as  nearly  as  possible  the  East 
India  mode,  and  consolidating  the  distilleries,  I  do  suppose 
our  sugar  Islands  might  be  better  worked  than  they  are  now 
by  two-thirds,  or  indeed  one-half  of  the  present  force.  Let 
it  be  considered  how  much  labour  is  lost  by  overseeing 
the  forced  labourer,  which  is  saved  when  he  works  for  his 
own  profit,  1  have  stated  with  the  strictest  veracity,  the  plain 
matter  of  fact,  that  sugar- estates  can  be  worked  cheaper  by 
free  persons  than  slaves,^'' 

"  Marsden,  in  his  history  of  Sumatra,"  says  Dr.  Dickson, 
"  highly  commends  Mr.  Botham's  management  of  the 
sugar-works  at  Bencoolen  by  free  labourers,  and  says  that 
the  expenses,  particidarly  of  the  slaves,  frustrated    many 


„A  ..jm^ 


# 


Jf 


J27 

former  attempts  of  the  English  to  cultivate  the  sugar-caue 
profitably  at  that  place." 

sif:ura  leonk. 

This  Colony  may  be  said  to  owe  its  origin  to  the  liber- 
ality and  benevolent  exertions  of  the  celebrated  Granm  n,i,i: 
Sharp.  At  the  time  when  the  decision  of  Lord  Mansfield, 
in  the  memorable  case  of  the  Negro,  Somerset,  had  estab- 
lished the  axiom,  that  "ns  soon  as  any  slave  sets  his  foot  on 
English  ground,  he  becomes  free,''''  there  Wt'/emany  negroes 
in  London  who  had  been  brought  over  by  their  masters. 
As  a  large  proportion  of  these  had  no  longer  owners  to  sup- 
port them,  nor  any  parish  from  which  they  could  claim  re- 
lief, they  fell  into  great  distress,  and  resorted  in  crowds  to 
their  patron,  Granville  Sharp,  for  support. 

But  his  means  were  quite  inadequate  to  maintain  them 
all,  even  if  such  a  plan  had  been  desirable  for  the  objects 
of  his  compassion,  and  '•  he  formed  a  scheme  for  their  future 
permanent  support.  He  determined  upon  <:"nding  them  to 
some  spot  in  Africa,  the  general  land  ol  their  ancestors, 
where,  when  they  were  once  landed  under  a  proper  leader, 
and  with  proper  provisions  for  a  time,  and  proper  imple- 
ments of  husbandry,  they  might,  with  but  moderate  indus- 
try, provide  for  themselves.  Just  at  this  time,  Mr.  Smeath- 
man,  who  had  lived  for  some  years  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra 
Leone  mountains,  and  who  knew  the  climate,  and  nature 
of  the  soil  and  productions  there,  who  had  formed  a  plan 
for  colonizing  those  parts,  was  in  London,  inviting  adven- 
turers, but  particularly  the  black  poor,  to  accompany  him 
on  his  return  to  his  ancient  abode."  Measures  for  this  pur- 
pose were  concerted  by  him  and  Granville  Sharp,  but  Mr. 
Smeathman,  who  was  to  have  conducted  the  black  colonists, 
died  before  they  sailed,  and  the  care,  and  for  some  time  the 
expense  of  this  bold  enterprise,  devolved  entirely  on  Mr. 
Sharp.  Nothing  could  be  more  discouraging  than  the  ca- 
lamities which  befell  the  undertaking  from  its  very  outset. 
Of  400  bla<  k  people  who  left  the  Thames  on  the  22nd  Feb. 
1778,  under  convoy  of  his  majesty's  sloop  of  war  Nauti- 
lus, not  more  than  130  (who  were  afterwards  reduced  lo 
40)  remained  alive  and  in  one  body  at  the  end  of  the  rainy 
season,  into  which  they  had  been  thrown  by  the  death  of  Mr. 
Smeathman,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Sharp's  strenuous  efforts 
to  avoid  it.  Disaster  followed  disaster.  Famine,  disease, 
discontent,  desertion,  succceeded  each  other  with  frightful 
rapidity,  till  the  year  1 789,  when  the  colony,  again  in  a  state 


^        r.  lA^ 


^-  - 


*- 


•m 


:vp. 


3i8 

oi'  improvement,  was  almost  annihilated  by  a  hostile  attack 
from  a  neighbouring  chief.  About  that  time  a  company 
was  established  in  England  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  for- 
ward the  benevolent  views  of  the  founder,  which  afterwards 
obtained  a  royal  charter  of  incorporation.  In  1792,  about 
1100  negroes  arrived  from  Nova  Scotia,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Lieutenant  Clarkson.  These  were  negroes  who 
had  been  induced  to  enlist  in  the  British  army  during  the 
American  war,  by  an  officer  of  freedom,  and  "  who  were 
afterwards  carried  to  Nova  Scotia,  under  a  promise  of  re- 
gular allotments  of  land,  which  promise  had  unfortunately 
not  been  fulfilled;''  the  climate  leing  unfavourable  to 
them,  they  solicited  and  obtaii.v..  ermission  to  join  the 
colony  at  Sierra  Leone.  In  the  year  1800,  their  numbers 
were  increased  by  the  arrival  of  550  Maroons,  who,  having 
risen  against  the  colonists  of  Jamacia,  and  been  induced, 
by  the  terror  of  blood  hounds,  to  surrender,  were  carried 
to  Nova  Scotia,  and  subsequently  to  Sierra  Leone.  Of 
such  elements,  (to  which  have  since  been  added  the  negroes 
liberated  from  the  holds  of  captured  slave  ships,)  was  the 
colony  of  Sierra  Leone  composed  ;  and  nothing  less  than 
the  extraordinary  energy,  fortitude,  and  perseverance  of 
our  illustrious  countryman,  could  have  saved  it  from  the 
destruction  with  which. it  was  so  often  menaced.  "Cer- 
tainly without  him  the  Sierra  Leone  Company  would  not 
have  been  formed,  and  had  he  not  supported  the  colony, 
when  it  so  often  hung  as  it  were  by  a  thread,  till  the  forma- 
tion of  this  company,  all  had  been  lost."  This  is  not  the 
place  to  follow  it  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  its  subse- 
quent history,  but  as  its  actual  condition  is  little  known,  I 
will  give  a  few  extracts  from  various  authorities,  which  will 
enable  the  judicious  reader  to  form  his  own  opinion  how  far 
it  is  likely  to  realize  the  expectation  of  its  illustrious  found- 
er, and  to  be  "  one  day  the  means  of  spreading  the  benefits 
of  civilization  and  Christianity  through  a  considerable  part 
of  the  vast  continent  of  Africa." 

On  the  31st  Oct.  1787,  Granville  Sharp  writes,  "I  have 
had  but  melancholy  accounts  of  my  poor  little  ill-thriven 
swarthy  daughter,  the  unfortunate  colony  of  Sierra  Leone." 

The  following  was  the  population  in  1820  and   1822,   as 
given  in  the  Missionary  Register  of  Dec.  1822. 

Julys,  1820.     Jan.  1,  1822. 

European 120     ...    128 

Maroons 594     .     .     .    601 


oi«:  ^. 


9r 


f> 


329 

West  Indians  and  Americans  — — 

Natives 1046 

NovaScotians 730 

Liberated  Africans      .     .     .  8076 

Disbanded  Soldierd    .     .     .  1216 

Kroomen 727 


Total 


n.'iOQ 


.  85 
.  3526 
.  722 
.7969 
.  1103 
.    947 

16.081 


9wn,  I 


ll  have 

thriven 

jone." 

|22,   as 


11822. 

Is 
ll 


"  The  chief  increase  is  apparently  in  the  class  of  natives, 
while  that  of  1  iberated  Africans  seems  to  be  somewhat  dimi- 
nished ;  but  this  is,  in  part,  occasioned  by  a  difference  of  ar- 
rangement in  the  two  returns.  The  large  number  of  natives 
in  the  native  villages  of  the  Peninsula,  amounting  in  the 
last  return  to  1925,  would  have  been  divided,  according  to 
the  arrangement  in  the  return  of  1820 — into  natives,  pro- 
perly so  called  ;  that  is,  as  we  conceive,  the  aborigines  of  the 
Peninsula ;  and  liberated  Africans,  living  in  villages,  but 
not  under  a  superintendant.  In  the  return  of  1820,  this 
distinction  was  made;  and  then  the  whole  number,  amount- 
ing to  1468,  was  divided  into  400  of  the  first  class,  and 
1068  of  the  second.  Both  classes  being  called  '  natives^ 
in  the  last  return,  the  number  of  liberated  Africans  ap- 
pears to  have  diminished  ;  while  it  has,  in  fact,  greatly  in- 
creased, independently  of  the  addition  of  1500  since  the 
date  of  the  last  return.  We  collect  from  these  data,  that 
the  number  of  liberated  Africans,  of  all  descriptions,  in 
the  colony,  on  the  1st  of  August,  was  upwards  of  eleven 

THOUSAND. 

"  Still  there  is  an  increase  of  the  class  ranked  as  '  natives' 
in  the  last  return,  to  the  amount  of  nearly  1000  ;  of  these, 
about  one-half  are  in  Freetown,  and  the  other  half  are 
chiefly  resident  in  the  settlements  of  the  liberated  Africans. 
This  augmentation  is  derived,  we  conceive,  from  the  influx 
of  the  people  bordering  on  the  colony;  and  is  a  gratifying 
indication  of  the  growth  of  mutual  confidence  between  the 
colony  and  its  neighbours. 


IMPORTS. 

rrom  Dec.  10,  1816,  to  Nov.  22,  lfil7 
Nov.  23,  1817,  to  Dec.  10,  1818 
Dec.  1,  1818,  to  Dec.  31,  1819 
Jan.  1,  1820,  to  Dec.  31,  1820 
•Tan.     1,  1821,  to  Dec.  .^1,  1821 

42 


Invoice  Amount. 


£75,716 

6 

Oi 

94,799 

14 

5J 

80,863 

6 

1i:f 

66,725 

9 

4 

105.000 

15 

10 

V 


^i».i-  ->^y^na»"..  t*^  -'> 


>^       <l>»«iii^iX'».  < 


330 


ftXPORTS. 

^ 

c 

'o  of  Vessels 
mployed  In 
•xportiog. 

LoCinf  Afri. 
can  timber 
Tooiec.    exported. 

Toil* 
or  Rice 
export. 

From  Jan.  1  to  Dec. 

SI, 

lftl7 

17 

2990         — - 

._ 

Jan.  1  to   Dec. 

31, 

1818 

22 

3659         1617 

273 

Jan.  1  to  Dec. 

31, 

1810 

27 

5875         S556 

1228 

Jan.  1  to  Dec. 

31, 

18S1 

S6 

6805         4736 

42 

Comparative  statement  or  Duties  collected  in  the  colony  of  Sierra 
Leone,  for  the  undermentioned  periods. 


#  From  Jan.  1,  to  Dec.  SI,  ini7 

Jan.  1,  to  Dec  31,  1818 
Jan.  1,  to  Dec.  31,  1819 
Jan.  1,  to  Dec.   ."Jl,  lUi'O 

*  Jan.  1,  to  Dec.  31,  1821 


£3086  3  7 

5124  1  3 

4656  2  0| 

6153  5  6 

6318  4  7 


J.  REFFELL. 
Acting  Collector  and  Naval  Officer. 

At  the  moment  I  am  writing,  there  are  at  least  three  ves- 
sels on  the  birth  in  this  port,  for  Sierra  Leone. 

Extract  from  Commodore  Sir  George  Collier's  Second 
Annual  Report  upon  the  Settlements  on  the  Coast  of  Africa, 
relative  to  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone. 

"  Indeed  the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone  has  been  so  diiTer- 
enily  represented,  so  much  has  been  urged  against  its  rising 
prosperity,  and  proposals  said  to  have  been  made  for  its 
abandonment,  that  I  consider  myself  (as  an  impartial  per- 
son) the  one  from  whom  opinions  and  remarks  may  be  ex- 
pected. The  climate  of  Sierra  Leone  is,  like  all  other  tro- 
pical climates,  divided  into  a  sickly  season,  and  one  not 
positively  so,  for  it  may  be  too  much  to  speak  of  Sierra 
Leone  as  ever  absolutely  healthful."  He  then  proceeds  to 
speak  of  various  topics  particularly  connected  with  the  na- 
ture of  his  survey.  Alluding  to  the  schools  and  churchesj 
he  says,  "  The  manner  in  which  the  public  schools  are  here 
conducted,  reflects  the  greatest  credit  upon  those  concern- 
ed in  their  prosperity,  and  the  improvement  made  by  the 
scholars,  proves  the  apltude  of  the  African,  if  moderate 
pains  be  taken  to  instruct  him.  I  have  attended  places  of 
public  worship  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  I  do  most 
conscientiously  declare,  never  did  I  witness  the  ceremonies 
of  religion  more  piously  performed  or  more  devoutly  at- 
tended to    than  in  Sierra  Leone." 

In  bis  report  dated  27th  Dec.  he  observe?,  "The  public 


I 


,* 


-«*^psi#i...  jgfe  -..  ...„m«^,. 


SSI 

buildings  have  not  advanced  so  rapidly  as  I  believe  had 
been  expected,  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  gratifying  to  observe 
that  the  roads  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Freetown  and  those 
in  the  mountains  have  been  much  improved,  and  that  the 
bridges  have  been  constructed  of  more  durable  materials 
than  heretofore.  Upon  the  whole,  Sierra  Leone  may  be  said 
to  be  improving,  and  if  the  encouragement  hitherto  shown, 
shall  be  continued  to  the  British  merchant,  no  reason  ap- 
pears to  me  why  this  colony  shall  not  in  the  course  of  time, 
amply  repay  the  anxiety,  and  care,  and  expense,  so  liber- 
ally bestowed  by  the  mother  country.  Every  year,  some 
new  prospect  opens  to  the  merchant.  An  intercourse  with 
the  interior  of  Africa  now  fairly  promises  ultimate  success, 
and  which  must  be  productive  of  benefit  to  Great  Britain^ 
and  it  may  even  be  expected,  that  some  years  hence,  caravans 
shall  resort  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Porto  Logo,  (on  a  branch 
of  the  Sierra  Leone,)  to  convey  articles  of  British  manufacture 
into  the  very  interior  of  the  continent  of  Africa.^* 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Capt,  H.  Turner,  dated  the  1th 

March,  1322. 

"I  visited  the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone  in  the  year  1817. 
My  stay  among  the  recaptured  negroes  in  the  mountains 
then  was  very  short,  but  sufficient  to  ascertain  they  were 
involved  in  heathen  darkness  and  barbarity. 

"Having  again  visited  them  in  December  1821,  lam 
able  in  some  measure  to  estimate  the  great  change  since  the 
former  period,  both  in  a  moral  and  religious  point  of  view, 
through  the  exertions  of  your  missionaries,  and  the  blessing 
of  Almighty  God  upon  their  labours,  without  which  all 
would  have  been  ineffectual. 

"  Regent's  Town,  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Johnson,  was  then  but  thinly  inhabited. 

"  Regent's  Town  now  wears  the  aspect  of  a  well-peopled 
village  in  our  happy  land  ;  its  inhabitants  civilized,  indus- 
trious, honest,  and  neatly  clothed.  The  ground  allotted  to 
each  family  is  cultivated,  each  lot  being  distinctly  marked 
out.  I  have  frequently  ascended  an  eminence  near  the  town 
to  behold  the  pleasing  scene  on  the  Sabbath-day  ;  hundreds 
pressing  on  to  the  house  of  God,  at  the  sound  of  the  bell, 
hungering  after  the  bread  of  life.  Nothing  but  sickness 
prevents  their  attendance  now.  What  a  lesson  does  this 
teach  many  in  Britain,  who  count  the  Sabbath  a  burden, 
and  either  spend  it  in  indolence  and  sloth,  or  in  visiting 
und  riot !"' 


t 


-w 


I 

<m 


332 


'^t' 


.* 


Extract  of  Letter  from  Edward  Fitzgerald,  Esq,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Lrone,  dated  the  3d  of 
May,  1621. 

After  giving  an  interesting  and  detailed  account  of 
the  various  places  of  public  worship  within  the  colony,  the 
Chief  Justice  thus  proceeds  :  ''  In  a  general  view  the  obser- 
vances wiiich  have  been  noticed,  will  be  thought  sufficient 
to  create  a  favourable  impression  of  the  state  of  religious 
feeling  and  demeanour  in  the  settlement  of  Freetown.  The 
Lord's  day  is  more  decorously  kept  than  it  is  in  most  other 
places.  The  shops  are  all  shut;  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
buying  and  selling.  The  Christian  part  of  the  people  at- 
tend worship  at  the  places  which  they  have  respectively 
chosen  :  and  all  the  congregations  are  alike  remarkable  for 
uniform  and  respectful  attention.  Throughout  the  streets 
corresponding  propriety  is  noticed ;  intoxication,  in  the 
gross  and  disgusting  form  in  which  it  is  so  commonly  seen 
on  the  Lord's  day  in  England,  is  of  very  rare  occurrence 
here,  with  the  painful  exception  of  European  seamen,  whose 
conduct  and  language  in  their  frequent  inebriations,  on  that 
day  especially,  are  of  most  depraving  example.  It  is  not 
to  be  understood  that  the  day  passes  in  perfect  sobriety ; 
among  the  inhabitants  in  general,  it  is  the  decency,  and  not 
the  abstinence,  that  makes  the  distinction.  Excesses  are 
committed,  and  are  generally  brought  under  the  animad- 
version of  the  magistrates  on  the  Monday,  in  consequence 
of  the  quarrels  occasioned  by  them  ;  but  these  quarrels  are 
almost  universally  of  a  trifling  nature.  There  is  not  any 
thing  in  the  circumstances  collectively  to  detract  from  the 
credit  that  has  been  taken." 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  H.   During  Svpertntendant  of 
Gloucester  Tolvh,  Sierra  Leone,  dated  28th  Dec.  1821. 

"  The  reception  which  his  excellency  Sir  C.  McCarthy 
met  with  among  the  people  under  our  care,  has  indeed 
been  feebly  stated  in  the  Gazette,  as  the  editor  also  honestly 
owns. 

'•  The  captain,  in  whose  vessel  the  Governor  had  come, 
was  struck  with  astonishment.  He  the  (captain)  had  seen 
much  of  the  negroes,  having  been  in  Jamaica,  and  asked 
what  time  the  settlement  had  been  formed  .'  When  told  in 
the  beginning  of  1817,  he  smiled,  and  said  to  the  Governor, 
Sir  Charles  M'Carthy,  '  If  I  knew  not  your  excellency  to 
be  a  man  of  honour,  I  should  think  myself  greatly  imposed 
on ;  and  I  must  candidly  confess  I  can  hardly  believe  it 


«" 


/- 


3^^ 


*% 


333 


..  '>'«*^\ 


whose 


idant  of 


come, 

seen 

asked 

told  in 


now  !^  His  excellency  then  pointed  out  to  him  the  way  he 
first  came  to  this  place,  and  the  old  trees  lying  about  the 
town,  cut  down  three  or  four  years  ago,  as  evidences  of  the 
truth ;  but,  said  the  captain,  ^  What  sort  of  people  were  they 
with  which  it  was  commenced  ?'  I  pointed  out  to  him  some 
who  were  sent  here  in  the  beginning  of  November,  that, 
looking  at  their  emaciated  state  of  body,  he  might  form 
some  idea  of  those  with  whom  I  began,  and  who  only  then 
were  sixty  two  in  number,  twenty  of  whom  died  ere  scarce- 
ly  a  month  had  elapsed !  He  then  inquired  what  method 
we  had  pursued  to  bring  them  to  such  a  state  in  so  short  a 
time.  ♦  No  other,'  said  his  excellency, '  than  the  truths  of 
Christianity,  which  these  gentleman  were  sent  by  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  to  propagate  :  by  this  alone  they  have 
ruled  them,  and  have  raised  them  to  a  common  level  with 
other  civilized  nations  ;  and,  believe  '  me,^  added  his  ex- 
cellency, '  if  you  admit  christain  teachers  into  your  island, 
you  soon  will  find  them  become  affectionate  and  faithful 
servants  to  you !' 

"  Things  as  they  now  appear,  humanly  speaking,  never 
wore  so  bright  and  pleasant  an  aspect ;  for  there  were  indi- 
viduals, and  are  now  at  this  moment,  who  always  were  en- 
deavouring to  undermine  the  credit  of  the  society,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  Colonial  Government,  as  it  respects  the 
captured  negroes ;  but  sure  it  is,  there  never  was  such  an 
opportunity  for  observation — never  were  the  prejudices 
more  effectually  removed  from  the  minds  of  many  European 
colonists,  and  never  had  the  society  gained  more  credit  in 
the  colony,  even  in  the  minds  of  those  individuals  alluded 
to,  than  through  the  present  events ;  as  you,  I  trust,  will 
see  in  the  report  of  the  Sierra  Leone  Association  in  aid  of 
the  Church  \iissionnry  Society,  the  collections  and  con- 
tributions to  which  amount  to  nearly  $200." 

Dr.  Morse,  a  well-known,  respectable,  and  intelligent 
American  author,  thus  describes  the  settlement,  in  his 
Universal  Gazeteer :  "Sierra  Leone,  in  1809,  contained 
1500  persons,  since  which  it  has  been  flourishing,  and  is 
now  the  most  important  English  colony  in  Africa,  except 
the  cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  1818 
amounting  to  10,014,  of  whom  only  about  100  were  Euro- 
peans. The  population  consists  almost  entirely  of  African^; 
from  the  holds  of  slave-ships,  and  who,  when  they  were 
introduced  into  the  colony,  were  at  the  lowest  point  ot 
mental  and  moral  depression.  They  now  exhibit  a  very 
gratifying  proof  of  the  susceptibility  of  the  Afrirancharar- 


^   ^'      i 


/' 


II       ,'^,.."' '■^IM'' 


■'•'*""v,*.,, 


*«>-? 


334 


; 


w 


¥ 


ter  for  improvement  and  civilization.  From  savages  anU 
gross  idolators,  many  of  them  have  been  converted  into 
enterprising  traders,  skilful  mechanics,  and  industrious 
farmers ;  supporting  themselves  and  their  families  in  com- 
fort, and  performing  respectably,  the  social,  and  even  reli- 
ffious  duties.  They  discharge  the  duties  of  jurors,  consta- 
bles, and  other  officers,  with  much  propriety,  and  are  a  fine 
example  of  a  community  of  black  men  living  as  free  men, 
enjoying  the  benefit  of  the  British  constitution,  regularly 
attending  public  worship,  and  gradually  improving,  by 
means  of  schools  and  other  institutions  in  knowledge  and 
civilization.  This  happy  change  has  been  effected  by  the 
blessing  of  God  on  the  labours  of  English  missionaries.  In 
1819,  the  number  of  children  in  the  schools  at  the  various 
settlements,  was  2014." 

Extracts  from  the  third  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Society 
for  Colonizing  the  Free  People  of  Colour  of  the  United  States. 

"  What  the  society  proposes  to  do  with  regard  to  coloniz- 
ing, is  to  procure  a  suitable  territory  on  tlie  coast  of 
Africa,  for  such  of  the  free  people  of  colour  as  may  choose 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  asylum,  and  for  such  blaves  as 
their  proprietors  may  please  to  emancipate" 

"  So  far  is  this  scheme  from  being  impracticable,  that  one, 
resembling  it  in  all  respects,  was  accomplished  by  a  private 
society  in  England,  more  than  30  years  ago.^' 

•'  In  despite  of  every  representation  to  the  contrary,  the 
colony  of  Sierra  Leone  boasts,  at  this  moment,  a  greater 
degree  of  prosperity,  than  distinguished  any  one  of  the 
British  Colonies,  now  the  United  States  of  America,  at  the 
same  period  after  its  first  plantation.  The  population  of 
Sierra  Leone ;  its  commerce  and  navigation ;  its  churches, 
schools,  and  charitable  institutions  ;  its  town  and  hamlets  ^ 
its  edifices  public  and  private  ;  surpass  those  of  any  one  of 
these  states,  at  any  time  within  twenty-five  years  from  its 
first  settlement." 

It  is  for  the  reader  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  preceding 
authorities,  and  to  draw  from  them  his  own  conclusions 
with  regard  to  the  present  state  and  future  prospects  of 
Sierra  Leone.  It  is  for  him  also  to  decide  how  far  the 
prosperity  of  a  community  formed  of  such  unpromising 
materials,  may  be  regarded  as  an  exemplification  of  what 
the  negro  race  may  exhibit  when  rescued  from  slavery ; 
how  far  such  a  colony  of  Africans,  of  many  nations  and 
languages,  educated  on  their  own  shores,  with  civil  rights, 


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335 


political  privileges,  and  religious  advantages,  and  in  fre- 
quent commr.nication  with  their  countrymen  from  the  inte- 
rior, is  calculated  to  civilize  Africa ;  how  far  it  may  be 
expected  to  send  forth,  through  a  thousand  channels,  those 
fertdizing  streams  which  will  clothe  the  moral  deserts  of 
that  injured  continent  with  verdure  and  beauty. 


